Fredericton man who killed 4 is denied supervised outings, despite improved mental health

Matthew Raymond has been denied supervised outings for the second time since he was found not criminally responsible for killing four people in Fredericton.

Raymond, 51, was found not criminally responsible by a jury in November 2020.

He admitted to shooting and killing Donnie Robichaud and Bobbie Lee Wright from his storage room window at 237 Brookside Dr., then Fredericton Const. Sara Burns and Const. Robb Costello when they responded to calls of shots fired on Aug. 10, 2018.

The jury found his mental illness, schizophrenia, meant he didn't know what he was doing was wrong.

During an annual hearing Wednesday, the New Brunswick Review Board, a tribunal made up of law and mental health professionals, declined to give Raymond privileges to leave the hospital grounds for short, supervised outings, and said he continues to pose a "significant risk to the public."

Raymond's psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Holly, presented a report outlining improvements in his case. He said Raymond has been stabilized and has been moved to the rehabilitation phase of his treatment.

Holly said Raymond has not had any relapses, is gaining insight into his illness and expresses remorse for the killings. He also has not reacted violently to harassment he receives from other patients at the hospital.

Holly said because Raymond has no drug issues, no personality disorder and no issues with relapse there would be little risk for him to go on supervised outings in the community.

He said the outings would be "necessary" for his treatment as the team won't be able to know how much he's improved socially until he can interact with the outside world.

"It's within a structure, you observe him with a microscope," he said. 

A bus ride was given as an example of a supervised outing.

Holly said the treatment team does official risk assessments before each outing, but none have been done yet pending the review board's approval.

Crown lawyer Darlene Blunston said because Raymond is the only one at the hospital centre designated as a "high risk accused," the treatment team must have a concrete risk assessment plan done before the review board can allow the outings.

Board chair Lyne Raymond agreed.