Victims’ families react to “not criminally responsible” ruling in Brentwood murder trial

Tears were shed and hugs were shared as family members reacted as best they could to hearing Matthew de Grood was “not criminally responsible” for killing their loved ones.

The verdict was read aloud inside a Calgary courtroom. De Grood was on trial for stabbing five young people to death at a house party that was supposed to celebrate the final day of school.

The looks on family members’ faces said it all as they walked out of the courtroom together, holding hands, forever linked by the common bond of tragedy.

Lawrence Hong’s younger brother read a statement on behalf of all five families.

“We would like to thank Justice Macklin, expressing our deep gratitude that he allowed us to read five tributes to our wonderful families within the court,” he said. “Our goal at the beginning of this trial was to put the spotlight on our loved ones, the family members that we lost, and that continues to be our goal now and into the future.”

Hong asked that everyone remember the names of the five people whose lives were cut far too short.

“We can all cherish their legacy by reminiscing moments that we had together, living out their values and supporting others through the scholarships and the foundations created in their memory. These are the individuals who should be remembered, these are the lives that were lost and no matter what, Kaiti, Jordan, Josh, Zack and Lawrence are still gone and our families will never be whole again.”

“The end of this trial is not the end of this journey for us, we continue to be broken. The finding of NCR will be a recurring nightmare for our families. In this system Matthew de Grood will meet with a Mental Health Review Board every year to determine if he will be granted concessions. There will be no peace for us; our wounds never fully heal because every year our families will have to wonder, what will be the fate of the man who damaged so many lives. Every year we will be forced to relive details of our family’s deaths, the anguish and sorrow.”

Hong is asking Canadians to become more familiar with the Canadian justice system and the finding of “not criminally responsible” and its implications.

“A possible reprieve for our family will be the designation of a high risk NCR, a new law that among other changes would allow a Review Board to decide to assess at every three years for an extremely dangerous offender.”

“The five families would support the prosecution in seeking this designation of high risk NCR which would give gravitas to the fact that Matthew de Grood killed five people and would support the system in ensuring that he is not a threat to the public.”

Hong finished by saying it’s their hope that every year de Grood is reviewed, the community will continue to value the lives of the five people killed.

“A lot of discussion about these murders and the trial are painful to think about and at times can get away from the core of it. That five lives were taken away and countless others devastated by the actions of one person.”

“Those five young bright people will only smile in our memories, we can only hug them in our dreams, and every moment good or bad will be spent wishing that they could share it with us. Their lives, our lives, their friends and the futures for all of us affected are forever changed.”

Kaitlin Perras’ father Greg freely admitted he was a little taken aback at hearing from the accused, in a letter that de Grood’s lawyer read in court.

“I’m not going to react to that statement today,” Perras said. “I’m a little surprised that it was made and I have no comment on it.”

“It’s not over, this isn’t the end, these families all have a life sentence now. Our life sentence is to every year go to the mental health review board and try to make sure this dangerous offender never gets out and has a chance to hurt anyone else. It’s not over, this is just the start.”

“I think I can talk on behalf of the families. We’re 100 per cent behind the Crown in going after a high risk designation. I’m not an expert, I’ve read up on it, and if anyone would fall under that definition, someone who kills five people and falls into psychosis within a matter of weeks, that’s very likely someone that should fall under that designation.”

Perras says that law was brought in after de Grood killed the five students and they’ll have to go after it retro-actively.

“Calgarians as a whole have been fabulous, Canadians are getting behind us. I have nothing but love and support for everyone out there that’s helped,” Perras said, his voice cracking with emotion. “Keep us together.”

“We’ve been together for two years, every two weeks we meet through the help and support of a local psychologist. We meet all the time, share things and we can talk about things that no one else can understand other than you’ve been through this kind of situation in your life so it’s been unbelievably supportive and important to all of us.”

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