KELOWNA – A Kelowna man who was found to be temporarily insane when he killed his mother is eligible for supervised release into the community from a secure psychiatric facility.
Conor Frederick Grossmith, then 24, fatally beat his mother about the head with a hammer in the family home in September 2012 while he was drunk and in a psychotic state.
Kate Gilchrist was 57 years old.
In November, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled Grossmith was not criminally responsible for the murder on account of mental disorder.
Last month, the B.C. Review Board held a hearing where it ordered Grossmith continue to be detained in custody at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Port Coquitlam.
But the board also ruled Grossmith may have escorted access to the community, at the discretion of the hospital’s Adult Forensic Psychiatric Services director, who must consider Grossmith’s mental condition and the risk he poses to himself or others.
Grossmith’s release conditions include not possessing or consuming alcohol or illegal drugs and not possessing firearms, explosives or offensive weapons.
He must also submit to urinalysis testing for drugs and alcohol upon demand of the director.
Grossmith suffers from bi-polar disorder.
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