Mass killer Matthew De Grood asks Alberta court for more freedom

An appeal was heard for Matthew de Grood, the man found not criminally responsible for the worst mass killing in Calgary's history.

Alberta’s top court has reserved its decision on a request for more freedoms for a mentally ill man who stabbed five people to death at a house party more than a decade ago.

The lawyer for Matthew de Grood argued in court that the man should receive the help as recommended by his treatment team.

Jacqueline Petrie said Alberta’s Criminal Code Review Board last year refused some freedoms and modified others.

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She said the board continues to describe her client as a risk to the public and focuses too much about what happened in 2014.

“That was then. This is now,” Petrie told the three-member panel with the Court of Appeal of Alberta on Wednesday.

“The board is putting on blinders.”

De Grood, 33, did not appear at the hearing.

He was 22 when he attacked Zackariah Rathwell, Jordan Segura, Kaitlin Perras, Josh Hunter and Lawrence Hong. A trial heard de Grood believed he was killing Medusas and werewolves for the son of God.

He was found not criminally responsible because he was suffering from schizophrenia at the time, and he was placed in a psychiatric facility.

Petrie argued de Grood is a low risk to the public and his medical team doesn’t think he’s dangerous.

He’s allowed to spend up to two weeks at a time with his parents in Calgary, and Petrie she wants it made permanent.

She said de Grood’s current lease at a group home is being terminated at the end of October, meaning he’ll be at his parents’ home until his next review board hearing Nov. 12 and 13.

The justices said they need some time to come up with a decision.

De Grood has appeared for annual hearings before the review board. It ruled in 2022 that he remain detained at a psychiatric facility, because he was still “a significant risk to public safety.”

Petrie challenged that decision, and the Appeal Court rejected her request to set aside the review board order and substitute it with an absolute or conditional discharge.

She argued at the time that the board misinterpreted medical evidence that found de Grood was a significant threat. She also alleged political interference by former Alberta justice minister Doug Schweitzer for public statements in support of more stringent release standards.

Families of the victims have opposed any plans to release de Grood or grant him additional freedoms.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2025.

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press