UPDATE: Jury Finds Fredericton Shooter Not Criminally Responsible

Matthew Vincent Raymond has been found not criminally responsible in the 2018 shooting deaths of four people in Fredericton.

The jury rendered its verdict in the case Friday morning after more than 25 hours of deliberation over the course of four days.

“We’re feeling relieved,” said defence lawyer Nathan Gorham in a phone interview following Friday’s verdict.

“I think Mr. Raymond has mixed feelings today and he also feels regret and remorse for the situation and the harm that he’s inflicted.”

Raymond pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Donnie Robichaud, Bobbie Lee Wright, and Fredericton police constables Sara Burns and Robb Costello.

Robichaud and Wright were shot and killed outside of an apartment building on Fredericton’s north side on Aug. 10, 2018. Burns and Costello were fatally shot when they responded to the call.

Lawyers for the Crown and the defence were both in agreement that Raymond killed all four people and was dealing with a mental illness at the time.

Jurors were tasked to determine whether Raymond understood the nature of his actions and knew they were wrong.

“We’ve believed very strongly for quite some time that Mr. Raymond suffers from a very serious illness of his mind and that that illness clearly deprived him of the ability to think rationally on the day of the offence,” said Gorham.

Gorham described it as a “difficult case” with “many anxious moments” as they awaited the decision of the jury.

“We had a different perspective on Mr. Raymond than others had because we worked so closely with him. We were concerned on the one hand knowing in our minds exactly what his state of mind and what his illness was like and we had concerns about whether we were going to be able to show everyone exactly what we knew.”

A verdict of not criminally response does not mean Raymond will be released from custody, said Gorham.

He will return to the Restigouche Hospital Centre as he awaits his disposition hearing, which the judge has set for Dec. 11.

“At that hearing, he will make a decision on what happens with Mr. Raymond from this point forward for the next short period of time before the Review Board takes over and holds subsequent hearings,” said Gorham.

“He said in court that he’s never seen a case like this that resulted in anything other than the person’s continued incarceration at a mental health facility, so we have every expectation that that will be the outcome.”

Fredericton Police Chief Issues Statement

Chief Roger Brown of the Fredericton Police Force issued a short statement following Friday’s verdict.

“Regardless of today’s outcome, these past number of weeks have been trying for all of us,” said Brown. “When contemplating the tragic situation that we have all faced, I continue to think of the families of the two civilian victims and the two police officers, as well as the family of the accused and our police organization as a whole.”

Brown thanked the jury for their time and deliberations, adding he is fully aware no one has emerged from this situation “unscarred.”

“It is important that we respect the decision that has been passed down as we move forward,” he said.

With files from Tamara Steele.