A jury in Fredericton has found that Matthew Raymond is unfit to stand trial on four counts of first-degree murder.
The 49-year-old Fredericton man is accused of killing two Fredericton police officers and two civilians outside an apartment complex on the north side of the city in August 2018.
READ MORE: Jury in fitness hearing for murder suspect to hear from psychiatrist
Fredericton police constables Robb Costello and Sara Burns and civilians Donnie Robichaud and Bobbie Lee Wright were killed as a result of the shooting.
The jury of four men and eight women began hearing evidence on Wednesday to determine whether Raymond understands the charges and can instruct a lawyer on how to defend him.
Raymond will now be sent for a 60-day treatment period where he will be given anti-psychotic medications to deal with his current condition. That treatment will be at one of two facilities in New Brunswick.
He will face trial on the murder charges once he is deemed fit to stand trial.
During the hearing this week, the jury of four men and eight women heard from Alex Pate, an articling student who works for defence lawyer Nathan Gorham.
Gorham also played a number of audio recordings as evidence of Raymond’s behaviour both inside and outside the court, and read the report of forensic psychiatrist Julian Gojer, before calling another forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Scott Woodside of Toronto, to the stand.
Woodside spent about 10 hours with Raymond – doing assessments in November 2018, March 2019 and Sept. 6 of this year.
The details of the testimony are under a publication ban.
Following the jury’s decision, defence lawyer Nathan Gorham spoke outside the courthouse and said he was pleased with the verdict.
“We think it was a very fair decision, and we’re pleased to see that one of the important safeguards in our system worked properly,” he said.
READ MORE: Jury selection almost complete for fitness hearing in Fredericton murder case
“The fitness provisions allow the parties to raise the issue of fitness when there is reasonable grounds concerning whether the person by reason of a mental disorder is unable to participate in their defence, either by understanding the nature of the proceedings or by instructing their counsel,” Gorham said.
“It ensures we only have to do trials once and avoids mistrials or appeals by ensuring that the trial is fair the first go-around,” he added.
The lawyers and Court of Queen’s Bench Judge Fred Ferguson have stressed that Raymond will eventually stand trial on the charges, and a new jury will have to be empannelled for that trial.
The case is now scheduled to return to court Dec. 4, following the 60-day treatment period.
With files from Silas Brown and The Canadian Press.
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