Matthew de Grood

Timeline

• 15 April 2014 — Matthew de Grood, an invited guest, stabbed five young adults at a house party at 11 Butler Crescent in the Brentwood neighbourhood of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
• 22 May 2014 — Matthew de Grood appeared before a judge via closed-circuit television and was found mentally fit to stand trial after undergoing a 30-day psychiatric evaluation.
• 17 April 2014 — Matthew de Grood was moved to a secure psychiatric facility pending a court appearance.

Background

Matthew de Grood attended the University of Calgary and was planning to attend law school. He was employed by Safeway prior to the stabbings. He was the son of a city police officer with the rank of Inspector, and his father was described as having held several senior roles with the Calgary Police Service and as having a 33-year veteran career.

Police said de Grood attended the party and was an invited guest, mingling with guests before the attack. According to authorities, he personally knew at least one person present during the party.

De Grood was being held at a secure psychiatric facility adjacent to the Calgary Remand Centre. He was referred back to the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre until doctors declared that his mental health had improved.

Friends posted congratulatory messages on de Grood’s Facebook page last December, when he announced he had been accepted into the faculty of law and would begin attending classes this fall. A status update on de Grood’s Facebook profile Monday night, hours before the stabbings, read: "Dread and the fugitive mind — the world needs a hero." The first phrase was the title of a song by the heavy metal band Megadeth; the second phrase was the name of the 2001 album it appeared on.

According to de Grood’s parents and classmates, his behaviour had started to change in the weeks before the murders, and he began posting more frequently on Facebook, submitting "bizarre" status updates.

Police have not said if they had a motive for the killings. Police confirmed de Grood had been invited to the party and was mingling with guests before the attack.

The offence

On 15 April 2014, five young adults were stabbed to death at a house party in the Brentwood neighbourhood of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The stabbing attack occurred several blocks away from the University of Calgary campus. The party was held to mark the end of their school year.

The attack occurred at 1:20 a.m. at a house at 11 Butler Crescent, where about thirty people were present at the party. The assailant was an invited guest who committed the attacks shortly after arriving at the party.

He obtained a large knife at the house and stabbed the victims methodically. Each victim was stabbed multiple times. The suspected attacker fled on foot but was arrested by police 40 minutes later with the aid of the K-9 unit.

Police Chief Rick Hanson said the victims were "targeted one by one" during a house party at 11 Butler Cres. N.W.

Police said there were about 30 people at the house at the party’s height, while neighbours said there were no signs things were ever out of hand. A neighbour described the party as quiet, saying: "They were just were kind of hanging out, had a fire pit going, having a few beers. They weren’t loud at all, whatsoever."

The numbers had dwindled to about 20 when the suspect struck without any outward warning. Hanson said: "Was there anything that precipitated the event? Was there something that anyone had done that could have been taken as an insult or an affront to this individual? And to the best of our knowledge right now, there’s nothing to indicate anything like that happened earlier in the day that led to this."

Hanson said the suspect arrived at the party, obtained a large knife and targeted the victims one by one, stabbing them several times, adding: "The suspect arrived at the party, obtained a large knife and targeted the victims one by one, stabbing them several times."

Investigation

A person at the party called 911 at about 1:20 a.m. Tuesday. When police arrived, they found three men dead inside the house. Officers found a fourth man, suffering from critical stab wounds, on the front lawn. Perras, who was also critically injured, was found inside the house. Paramedics took both victims to hospital, where they died.

Police recovered a weapon from the street, but it was not immediately known if it was used in the killings. Police said de Grood was armed with "an instrument" from his job at the grocery store, while the knife used in the killings was allegedly taken from inside the house.

A quote from Hanson described the arrest related to information received at the scene: "There was a witness there, right away, that gave very good information to the responding officers that pointed them in a direction where the suspect was last seen,".

Multiple sources said the investigation focused on de Grood’s mental state. Hanson said: "At this point in time, it’s very preliminary and can’t say for sure," when commenting on the state of the investigation.

Arrest

Officers arrested de Grood a short distance away, near the intersection of Brentwood Boulevard N.W. and Charleswood Drive.

Hanson said: "There was a struggle and he had to be subdued,".

De Grood was injured by a police K9 dog during the arrest. He was taken to Rockyview Hospital for treatment, where he remained Tuesday night.

In a separate account, police officers who rushed to the scene arrested de Grood, 22, a short distance from the home. An ambulance took de Grood to Rockyview Hospital to treat injuries he suffered while being taken down by the police K9 dog.

Trial

On 22 May 2014, de Grood was found mentally fit to stand trial after undergoing a psychiatric assessment. De Grood appeared before a judge via closed-circuit television Thursday after undergoing a 30-day psychiatric evaluation.

The evaluation was ordered following his arrest to determine his fitness for trial. De Grood was referred back to the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre until doctors declared that his mental health had improved.

De Grood’s lawyer Allan Fay told reporters outside court that de Grood was "doing as well as can be expected" under the circumstances. When asked why de Grood was declared fit to stand trial but referred back to a psychiatric facility, Fay said: "You have to keep in mind that being fit to stand trial only means that he understands the process and he can instruct counsel. “You can still be very profoundly mentally ill and be fit to stand trial.”"

Another court date had been set for July 22, giving Fay two months to go through all the police evidence and witness statements provided by the Crown.

Sentencing

No sentencing information was provided.

Appeals

No appeal information was provided.

Outcome

De Grood was declared fit to stand trial on 22 May 2014 after undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.

Aftermath

Following the stabbings, de Grood’s father, Insp. Doug de Grood, described his son and the attack. Hanson said the elder de Grood said he had no idea what motivated the attack and described his son as a “great kid” who was full of “love, kindness and respect for others.”

A statement attributed to Mayor Naheed Nenshi included: "It is natural to speculate when these types of events occur. We want to know what happened, who was involved and why the outcome was so horrific,".

A statement attributed to U of C president Elizabeth Cannon included: "Our thoughts and condolences go out to the families who have lost their loved ones in this senseless tragedy. The university community has lost a part of its family, and this is a very difficult time for all of us,".

Hanson said investigators were told by the parents: "He’s heartbroken, as his wife is. He said, can you please pass on to the families our total and complete sorrow and condolences as to what happened," Hanson said. Hanson also said: "They’ve been incredibly co-operative with this investigation. They have told the investigators everything."

People and victims

Matthew de Grood was 22 at the time of the stabbings. He attended the University of Calgary.

Victims were:

• Joshua Hunter, age 23, lived in Priddis, Alberta; he was pronounced dead at the scene after being taken to hospital following critical stab wounds.
• Kaiti Perras, age 23, lived in Calgary; she was taken to hospital and succumbed to her wounds.
• Jordan Segura, age 22, lived in Calgary; he was pronounced dead at the scene.
• Lawrence Hong, age 27, lived in Calgary; he was pronounced dead at the scene.
• Zackariah Rathwell, age 21, lived in Calgary; he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Two of the victims, Hunter and Rathwell, were best friends and were in a band together called Zachariah and The Prophets. Hunter was also an accounting major at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business. Rathwell was a first-year student at the Alberta College of Art and Design. Segura was a religious studies student at the University of Calgary. Segura had been working part-time at two Calgary funeral homes. Perras had majored in English at Mount Royal University before attending the University of Calgary. Perras previously attended Mount Royal University for English after graduating from Bishop Carroll high school and worked as a hostess at a downtown restaurant last year. Hong was about to graduate from the urban studies program, and a friend described him as a foodie, traveller and volunteer; he was a volunteer with the Calgary Folk Music Festival and Fairy Tales Film Festival. A friend said Lawrence Hong was approaching his 28th birthday next week. Another detail said Hong was approaching his 28th birthday next week and was described as a foodie, traveller and volunteer.

One band-related quote attributed to Eric Grant included: "They were amazing, they were really creative and they inspired me,". Another quote attributed to Brad Taylor included: "really great Calgary kid." A candlelight vigil for all five victims at U of C took place at U of C on Tuesday night, and the friend said: "Today has been the hardest day of my life."

Other details

Police officers arrested de Grood and the injured him by a police K9 dog. De Grood was taken to Rockyview Hospital for treatment and remained Tuesday night.

De Grood was charged with five counts of first-degree murder. The charges indicated evidence of planning and deliberation, as described in reporting.

In an account of the day after the stabbings, provincial justice officials announced a Crown attorney from Edmonton would be brought into prosecute the case. Alberta Justice spokeswoman Michelle Davio said officials decided to do so in the case considering the accused was the son of a high-ranking Calgary officer. It was described as standard practice designed to address any perceived conflict of interest when a Calgary police officer was accused of a criminal offence.

Police said they had no evidence de Grood was impaired by drugs or alcohol; Chief Rick Hanson described the finding as preliminary. A witness statement about the arrest and struggle included: "There was a struggle and he had to be subdued,".

The attack was described as the deadliest act of mass murder to have ever occurred in the history of Calgary, and as the worst mass homicide in Calgary’s history. A comparison was provided to a 2008 Calgary case involving Joshua Lall, who was described as having killed his wife, their two daughters, and a tenant renting a basement suite in their Dalhousie home before killing himself, with an infant daughter surviving. The information included Lall’s age as 35 and his wife Alison’s age as 34, daughters Kristen age 5 and Rochelle age 3, and Amber Bowerman’s age as 30.