Lack of psychiatrist report prompts two-week delay in Fredericton murder case

There is yet another delay in the court proceedings for a Fredericton man accused of killing two police officers and two civilians in the New Brunswick capital in 2018.

Matthew Raymond was in Court of Queen’s Bench in Fredericton on Wednesday after undergoing a 60-day treatment period that included receiving anti-psychotic medications.

READ MORE: Jury finds alleged Fredericton shooter Matthew Raymond unfit to stand trial

Raymond is accused of killing Fredericton police constables Robb Costello and Sara Burns, and residents Donnie Robichaud and Bobbie Lee Wright, outside an apartment complex on Aug. 10, 2018.

The two civilians were killed as they loaded their car for a trip, and the officers were shot as they responded to the scene.

A jury found Raymond unfit to stand trial on four counts of first-degree murder in October, leading to the treatment period.

READ MORE: Jury in fitness hearing for murder suspect to hear from psychiatrist

However, there was little attorneys could do on Wednesday because no report had been received from the psychiatrist treating Raymond.

“We are waiting on information from the hospital on how his assessments turned out while he was under the treatment there,” Raymond’s lawyer, Nathan Gorham, said outside court.

“In my experience it is unusual. The doctors would usually return a report by this point in time,” he said.

READ MORE: Jury selection almost complete for fitness hearing in Fredericton murder case

Justice Fred Ferguson has instructed he wants the report within the next week, and the case will return to court on Dec. 18.

The lawyers and judge have stressed that Raymond – who was clean-cut and sat quietly in court on Wednesday – will eventually stand trial on the charges, and a new jury will have to be impaneled for that trial.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2019.