Update: The Brentwood five massacre | 4
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Hey, it's Nancy. Before we begin today, I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to Crime Beat early and ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. In the spring of 2014, a group of friends got together for a house party in northwest Calgary.

Before the sun rose the next morning, five young adults were gone. The suspect, 22-year-old Matthew DeGroote, is still under watch at the Rocky View Hospital at this hour. He is now charged in the worst mass murder in the city's history. He is officially charged with five counts of first-degree murder. DeGroote is the son of a 33-year veteran police officer and identified as the only suspect in the case.

I'm Nancy Hixt, a senior crime reporter for Global News. Today on Crime Beat, I bring you the latest developments on the case at the 10-year anniversary of this tragedy. The chances of one of the families not running into him is pretty low. Like, it's going to happen. And it's going to set off a lot of anxiety and PTSD, you know, when you see someone that's killed your child.

This is an update to the Brentwood Five Massacre. On April 14th, 2014, a group of friends who knew each other from junior, high school, and post-secondary school got together to celebrate the end of classes. It was a small, off-campus social gathering in the quiet Northwest community of Brentwood. The house was a well-known rental for university students that many affectionately called the Butler Mansion.

The mood was laid back and relaxed. The vibrant group of young people included Katy Paris, an accomplished dancer, Lawrence Hong, an aspiring urban planner, Josh Hunter and Zachariah Rathwell, two talented musicians, and Jordan Segura, who was well on his way to becoming a humanitarian. They were all looking forward to the freedom the end of the school year would bring.

But there was one person who stood out. His name was Matthew DeGrood, and he was a friend of one of the roommates hosting the party, and arrived late after working a shift at a grocery store. His conversations were ominous. DeGrood spoke about the blood moon, the apocalypse, and vampires. But it was his actions that started to make the group of friends feel uncomfortable.

He carried garlic in his pocket and wore blue surgical gloves that he kept on even when he washed his hands. It was around 1 a.m. when some of the friends went to a nearby McDonald's to pick up food. In the meantime, Lawrence had fallen asleep on a loveseat in the living room. Josh, Katie, and Jordan were all sitting together on a couch on the other side of the living room. Zach was in the kitchen.

What happened next was completely unexpected, graphic, and violent. There was no altercation, fighting, or warning. Matthew DeGroote took a large chef's knife from the kitchen and stabbed Zach. He then went into the living room and stabbed Josh and Jordan. Katie tried to escape, but he chased after her. Lawrence was stabbed while he slept on the couch.

There were multiple calls to 911. Zach, Jordan, and Lawrence died at the scene. Josh and Katie were rushed to hospital, but later died from their injuries. They later became known as the Brentwood Five. Moments after the stabbings, police caught DeGroote running frantically from the crime scene. This is the worst murder, mass murder in Calgary's history. We

have never seen five people killed by an individual at one scene. So the scene was horrific. The suspect arrived at the party, obtained a large knife, and targeted the victims one by one, stabbing them several times. When our officers arrived, three young men were discovered deceased in the home. An injured female was also found inside the home and taken to the hospital in critical condition suffering from stab wounds.

Another male also suffering from stab wounds was discovered on the front lawn and transported to the hospital in critical conditions. They both succumbed to their injuries. Matthew DeGroote was 22 when this happened. He's the son of a former veteran high-ranking officer with the Calgary Police Service. He was originally charged with five counts of first-degree murder. DeGroote's state of mind at the time of the stabbings became the focal point of the criminal case.

He was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia. The courts found he was experiencing a psychotic episode when he killed the five young adults and believed he was the son of God and Hitler reincarnated and that the victims were Illuminati, werewolves, and Medusas. On May 25th, 2016, a judge found DeGroote not criminally responsible or NCR

A ruling that ensures people with mental disorders are treated, not punished. I took you through this story in a special three-part series in season two. If you haven't already, I recommend you go back and give these episodes a listen. And at the end of this update, I'm going to reshare part one. This spring marks a tragic anniversary in this case. Ten years since the Brentwood Five were killed.

A lot has happened since then. I asked Katie's father, Greg Paris, to help me go through the latest developments. There's been eight years of hearings because he had a hearing immediately after he was found not criminally responsible in 2016. And then there was, I think, another hearing that year. So I think there's been nine hearings.

NCR hearings. And now there's been two appeals into the Alberta Court of Appeals. So those are actually, they go back to the legal system. And now he's waiting on an appeal of last year's appeal that failed to the Supreme Court. The hearings Greg is referring to are held by a mental health review board.

The Alberta Review Board is now called the Criminal Code Review Board, but most people still refer to it by its original name, the ARB, or simply the Board. Every year, DeGroote's progress is assessed by the Board, which then decides if there is still a significant threat to public safety.

To determine that risk, the board looks at the likelihood of DeGroote having another psychotic episode and tries to assess what he would likely do if he did. There's legislation the board has to follow when assessing someone who has been deemed NCR and includes three options for people deemed NCR. They can be held under a full warrant or they can be granted a conditional discharge or an absolute discharge.

An absolute discharge is what the families of the Brentwood Five told me they fear the most, because DeGroote won't have to follow any treatment or check-in protocol. That's what happened in one of Canada's most high-profile NCR cases from 2008. Timothy McLean was brutally attacked by a stranger, a man who sat next to him as they rode on a Greyhound bus.

He was stabbed over a hundred times, mutilated and cannibalized. His killer was also deemed to be NCR and has since been granted an absolute discharge. I also go through that case in the Brentwood 5 series, so if you haven't already, I recommend going back and listening. In the Brentwood case, to date, DeGroote has been kept under full warrant.

That can include several living arrangements such as being sent to a secure facility for treatment or a structured and supervised group home. In 2021, DeGroote remained under full warrant, but he was cleared to transition to a group home in Edmonton.

Here again is Katie's father, Greg Paris. My understanding of what a full warrant means is that in that scenario, he does not need to be in a hospital. And he could even move this year to a less structured group home and still be under the full warrant.

The full warrant gives his medical team the clear and direct ability to pull him back into hospital. That means if his treatment team feels he's relapsing, under full warrant, he can be taken back to a secure treatment facility.

At his annual review, which took place in September of 2022, this became an important point, as DeGroote's doctor told the board that his behavior prior to the stabbings would not have been certifiable under the Mental Health Act. The board heard that when DeGroote's mental health deteriorates, signs are very subtle.

For instance, in the months leading up to the fatal stabbings, his family noted only relatively minor differences in behavior. That included increased incidents of arguments with his parents, irregular sleep patterns, and heightened interest in certain theories. During the review, there was evidence of two relapse incidents that have happened since the mass killings in 2014.

His doctors refer to these as episodes of decompensation. One happened in 2019 and one in 2021. Both occurred while DeGroote was in hospital and undergoing medication changes,

In each of the incidents, his oral antipsychotic was decreased, and DeGrood exhibited sleep issues, uncharacteristic irritability and energy, loss of insight, and both were relatively small reductions to the oral medication. His doctors said the issues were resolved when the doses of oral meds were restored.

The board heard DeGroote did not recognize at the time that he was showing signs of relapse and denied there was any deterioration in his mental state. At that hearing in 2022, DeGroote sought an absolute discharge or a conditional discharge

The board didn't support either of those options and instead unanimously found that DeGroote continued to be a significant threat to the safety of the public and deemed a full warrant was necessary to protect the public. Since late 2022, DeGroote has been tasked with managing his oral medications, which are dispensed in blister packs monthly.

He's responsible for picking them up at the pharmacy, providing them to group home staff, who then dispenses his medications to him. The board left it up to his treatment team to decide if he should live in supervised accommodations in Edmonton or Calgary. DeGrood expressed a desire to return to Calgary. That happened in October of 2023.

He moved to a Calgary group home that's described as highly structured with 24-hour supervision. Greg Paris told me, "'This development has been extremely difficult for the families of the five victims.'"

They don't know which part of the city he's in, as the location of his group home has not been disclosed. I was a realist. I assumed it would happen at some point. Obviously, none of us are hopeful that we ever run into him at a mall or a movie theater or on the street corner.

But, you know, this is still a pretty small city. Like the chances of one of the families not running into him is pretty low. Like it's going to happen and it's going to set off, you know, a lot of anxiety and PTSD. You know, when you see someone that's killed your child. I should note DeGroote appealed the 2022 review board decision and the Alberta Court of Appeal has since dismissed it.

As Greg mentioned earlier, DeGroote also asked to have his case heard by the Supreme Court of Canada. He was seeking to have Canada's top court overturn the 2022 decision by the board, as well as the Alberta Court of Appeal decision. He wanted his full warrant to be set aside and instead grant him an absolute discharge, or at minimum, grant him a conditional discharge.

Permission from the Supreme Court of Canada has to be granted and is a prerequisite to start the appeal process. As I was putting together this episode, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed this application and will not hear the case. Again, that was for the 2022 hearing. But in the meantime, another review hearing was held in November of 2023.

There's been concern presented by his treatment team and the board that he underreports concerns he might have. And so, you know, there was a lot of discussion about his appeal of last year's disposition. So the appeal happened in June of 2023. And, you know, there was his doctor, Dr. Manua at the time from Edmonton, approached him.

DeGroote and said, you know, there's a lot of publicity around your appeal and then there was publicity around the appeal failing. You know, how do you feel? Do you feel anxious about it? Are you anxious about any of the media exposure? And he said, no, he wasn't anxious at all. The board heard evidence of one specific incident that happened in Edmonton when DeGroote was recognized as being the man who killed the Brentwood Five.

Greg said there was concern he underreported the amount of anxiety this incident caused him, or that this type of public recognition could cause him in the future. And then they talked briefly about him taking drugs

Edmonton Transit and he felt like the bus driver recognized him. I don't know how. Maybe he had an ID for a bus pass or whatever. It seemed like the bus driver maybe recognized him during this process of all these appeals and being in the media. Again, he blew it off and said he didn't really feel all that anxious about it.

And, you know, and now they talked about he wasn't all that anxious about moving back to Calgary to the place where he killed five people, where he is more recognizable. At this hearing, DeGroote again asked the board to grant an absolute discharge. He proposed that if the board should deny that request, he would then seek a conditional discharge with the ability to move back in with his parents instead of staying in a group home.

And he asked to be able to travel unsupervised within Alberta for three weeks. That's a week longer than he's been previously granted.

The board acknowledged DeGroote is doing well in many respects, pointing to the fact that he hasn't had any major incidents since 2021. He's medication compliant, engages in programming and activities, he uses most privileges available to him, and appears to be doing well in the supervised group home. He's also supported by his family.

According to DeGroote's treatment team, his schizophrenia is currently in full remission. But his doctors remain opposed to his requests for a discharge, absolute or conditional, and they don't support him traveling in the province unsupervised for more than two weeks.

His new treatment team in Calgary were 100% in agreement that full warrant is the place to be right now because, as he said it, this is the most stressful thing that DeGroote will have to deal with, which is returning to Calgary where he killed five people. At the time this podcast updating DeGroote's case was released, he remained under full warrant, living in a group home in Calgary.

He will have another review in the fall of 2024. In the meantime, the appeals continue. It's still the 2022 disposition that DeGroote is seeking to have heard by the Supreme Court, so not even the most recent decision. It's just exhaustion and, you know, just would we wish it would go away, but it just won't. Like sometime probably in June,

The next three or four months, it'll be back in the news again because the Supreme Court has taken a look at it. We're waiting with bated breath, hoping he doesn't appeal the latest review, right, and have multiple appeals on the go.

So it's just never ending. It's been constant hearings and appeals following the judge deeming DeGroote NCR back in 2016. There's no break. You know, to be brutally honest, from my personal viewpoint, I've been going to grief counseling for 10 years. And you don't

You don't get to put it aside for very long because there's been a review every year for the last eight years. And now there's these appeals that appear and subsequently every six months, it's all dredged up. Each of the family members of the five victims are able to write victim impact statements that are presented to the board at the review hearings.

That in itself is an emotional process, and often what they write is redacted if their words are deemed to be inflammatory in any way. For instance, they're not allowed to refer to DeGroote as a murderer because he was deemed not criminally responsible. The same issue came up during the original court process.

The pain, the anger for me, the sadness, the anxiety, it just, it bubbles right to the surface. And obviously, you know, for all of us, you know, the majority of people have stopped writing victim impact statements. It's extremely sad that that's occurred. But the reason it's happened is because people are exhausted. Family members are exhausted.

And there's another fear Greg struggles with. He said he worries about the day there's a different decision by the board, a day when DeGroote would no longer be under full warrant. The thing that probably keeps me up at night more than anything is that he needs both oral and injectable medication at your main level to keep a balanced mental health situation. He needs them both.

And at some point, and that's already begun, he's now responsible for taking the oral medication. He has to go and have his injectable, which has a three to four week support in terms of medication. But he has to take his oral medication every day now. And clearly he's being watched at the moment. But if he wasn't under medication,

a full warrant. That's now 100% on him. And it's been shown pretty clearly while he was at the hospital in Edmonton that

If he doesn't have his oral medication because they tried to transition him off of it, he started to devolve. He started to show symptoms that were similar to what transpired prior to him killing our five kids. So he needs both of those medications at all times.

The families of the Brentwood Five want Canadian legislation changed so serious violent offenders deemed to be NCR would be mandated to continue treatment and be monitored indefinitely.

At present, medication and treatment can only be mandated under full warrant or if it's stipulated in a conditional release. It's very important for the public to continue to ask the question, why should this person ever be discharged from the mental health system?

Each of the five families are still mourning the loss of their five kids. Katie Parris, Lawrence Hong, Josh Hunter, Zachariah Rathwell and Jordan Segura. The Quintero Legacy Garden that we managed to build after a four-year process of raising funds.

it provides some solace for everyone that we have this beautiful and at times very tranquil place where the kids have been honored with their, their memorial chairs and, and the musical instruments and, and, you know, the kinds of music and dance and programs that can occur there that kind of support what a lot of the, you know, where musicians or dancers or artists or,

That provides us some solace for sure. Quintera Legacy Garden is located in southwest Calgary, near the south shore of the Glenmore Reservoir. It's a dedicated music garden with a performance space. It was specifically created to reflect the qualities the Brentwood Five embodied, including hope, possibility, and creativity.

There are five branches, five leaves, and five roots in the garden logo, along with a five-pointed star on the stage and five chairs placed in front of the five flowering trees planted in the garden. I've been there several times, and it is truly a place where visitors can reflect, heal, and remember. Every missed milestone without their five loved ones brings heartbreak.

But these families don't take their time together for granted either, because they know all too well just how fragile life can be. Having all these weddings and there's a number of grandchildren now in multiple families that has provided some positive light to the families.

So I think, you know, I can't speak for everyone, obviously, but, you know, I see some of the grandkids and I see the posts of all the parents that are now grandparents. And I see, personally, we have three grandchildren now, and it's just, it provides a lot of happiness. And we try not to think about the fact that Katie has missed all of that.

Because if you do, you go down a rat hole and it happens. It happens at Christmas time, especially she's still missing and missing out of knowing her nephews that are here.

But we try to keep it in a positive light because there is growth in the family. The families continue to evolve and add more members that provide a lot of happiness to families that remain broken but are resilient. Thank you so much to Greg and each of the loved ones of the Brentwood Five for their help as I continue to cover this important story.

As I mentioned, I'm going to play part one of the original three-part series for you now. Part two and three are available if you search The Brentwood Five Massacre in season two of Crime Beat. There are some days that are burned into my memory. Days that are so significant that I remember every minute of what happened. This day started in the middle of the night. I woke up to my phone lighting up.

I was barely sleeping because I was sick, not a little cough or a cold sick. I had the trifecta of a sinus infection, bronchitis, and pneumonia. But the phone didn't stop. And after a quick look at the messages, it was clear it wasn't something I should ignore. I got up and made a quick stop at the doctor in hopes he would offer me a miracle cure.

Instead, he put an oxygen mask on me and told me I was too sick to leave. I panicked. A sick day was not an option. When the doctor left the room, I took off the oxygen mask and headed to work. What I was going through was so insignificant compared to the case I was about to cover. Everyone in the newsroom rallied together to cover this story.

It was a day that left a scar on the soul of the city. I will never forget that moment until the day I die. Absolutely everything. Honestly, I can't think of anything that's the same. I truly, like, truly believe I died that day. Who I was, what my life was, how my family was. I'm Nancy Hixt, a crime reporter for Global News.

Over the next two episodes of Crime Beat, I'll take you through one of the worst mass killings I've ever covered and share the story of five young people whose loss has left a heartbreaking void that can never be filled. This is the story of the Brentwood Five Massacre.

When you live in a city where it feels like it's winter most of the year, people celebrate even the slightest warm spell. It's not unusual to see people out on patios wearing shorts in Calgary in April, even though it's likely only 15 degrees Celsius or 59 Fahrenheit. Shorts are also part of a year-end tradition at the University of Calgary called Bermuda Shorts Day.

The day is not really about the shorts. It's a year-end party, and there's always a big event at the university, but the parties often spill off campus. On April 14th, 2014, a group of friends decided to have a small get-together at their home near the university campus in the northwest Calgary neighborhood of Brentwood.

Five young people shared a small gray and blue split-level house on a quiet block on Butler Crescent. The house was a well-known rental for university students that many affectionately called the Butler Mansion. It would be a relatively small get-together. Many of those invited went to junior high or high school together. The rest knew each other from university.

It was an amazing group of young people that included an accomplished dancer, an aspiring urban planner, two amazingly talented musicians, and a young man who was well on his way to becoming a humanitarian. For the most part, the mood was laid back and relaxed. No one could have predicted how dark things would get and how quickly it all unraveled.

Before I take you through what happened that fateful morning, I need to take you back. I want you to get to know the five young people who are now lovingly remembered as the Brentwood Five. Lawrence Hong was the oldest among this group and the firstborn son of Lorenzo and Marlene Hong. He's a very sociable person, a baby. He would greet everybody.

Lawrence was seven when his parents and his younger brother Miles moved to Canada from the Philippines. From a very early age, he expressed an interest in urban design.

In elementary school, he enlisted his father's help to build a high-tech bridge out of popsicle sticks. He was giving me specs on what he needed to do. Well, I had to help him out, right? So I made sure that he had enough glue and enough popsicle sticks to construct. And he was just thinking a very long span.

bridge for his school project. We experimented with quite a few of them. We threw out a lot of popsicle sticks. It was a trial and error. And when we finished, the bridge was around 20 inches long. And when he presented that to the school, I think he won some kind of award for it.

Lawrence poured every ounce of himself into anything and everything he did. That included time for fun. He spent a few all-nighters fulfilling quests on World of Warcraft. Kindness emanated from his very soul. He always took time to make his family and friends feel loved.

He had a special shyness about him and preferred to be behind the camera than in front of it. So it wasn't unusual for his friends to say they were snapping a photo while actually sneaking a video. Hi Lawrence, how are you? Hi, I'm good. Are you good? Do you like having your picture taken? Are you sure it's a picture and not a video? Um, no, it's only one picture. Don't! You're gonna mess up the shot.

As Lawrence got older, his passion for urban design and infrastructure grew. He had some time off and then he went back to school. He took up structural engineering. And he took up power engineering too, but he didn't like it. And then he took up structural engineering at SAIT. And then...

finish the structural then we went to China in 2010 so it was a long holiday where we took them to China and then to Hong Kong and most of the time we took the transit in Hong Kong and that's how he appreciate the transit so when he came back we

didn't even realize that he started switching his course. Because during that time he was studying engineering. He's enrolled in engineering at U of C. And after the trip from Hong Kong, somehow it changes him. Something motivates him to move from general engineering to urban studies. Thinking back,

He spent a day or two days, just the two brothers,

taking the transit in and out, in and out, in and out. We were asking, "What were you doing the whole day?" Going in and out of the MTR or the train in Hong Kong. Because I think he was amazed that you could move so many people in so tight a space very efficiently. Lawrence saw beauty in buildings, bridges and structures that most people take for granted.

He loved to immerse himself however possible, letting his mind wander, dreaming of creating a more innovative future. While in university, he also worked part-time with his mother as a sales assistant for a local home builder.

Some might have viewed this as a chore, but not Lawrence. He saw it as an opportunity for growth. And like everything he touched, he put his best foot forward. That was, I guess, the most enjoyable time that I had with him as a grown-up man. And I was able to see that he had applied what he had studied.

I really have fun remembering those days. Lawrence's younger brother went to school with Katie Parris. She was born on February 5th, 1991, and her parents, Greg Parris and Shannon Miller, immediately fell in love with her. She had an older sister and a younger brother. Later, her father remarried, and soon after, Greg and Cam Laraway had a baby.

Katie was over the moon excited and adored her little sister. And her little sister adored her.

My daughter, our daughter, her little sister just idolized her and when she'd come over like she literally would pet her hair because she had long hair. My daughter, she wanted long hair so badly and it just never grew. So she would just stare at Katie's hair and just like pet it. And brush it. And brush it. And she'd let her brush it incessantly when she was little. Yes. You know, patience with her sister.

From a very young age, Katie's mom remembers she was strong-willed, feisty. Mostly she was stubborn, which that was a love-hate thing I had for her because I really admired actually her tenacity in standing up for what she believed in, even as like little, little.

And I know it irritated a lot of people or a lot of people think that that might be not disrespectful, but you know what I'm saying, kind of not the best thing for a child to be stubborn. But it wasn't always, it was just really when she believed

believed in something. And that, you know, as she grew older, that continued on with her friendships and with her family, stubborn in that she would protect you and support you and defend you. She knew what she wanted, and she wasn't afraid to take a stand for whatever that was.

Well, this is a silly example, but I think about it all the time and it makes me laugh. We went to pick up Nikki, so her older sister, and Katie would have been three. And it was June and we went to pick her up from school and Katie wanted to wear her bikini and her cowboy boots. And I'm like, "Here, let's throw a sweater on." And nope, no, she was adamant that this is what she wanted to wear. And I'm like,

cool, let's just, let's go with it. And, you know, I did get a few comments from some of the moms that it wasn't appropriate. And I'm like, she's three. And good for her for choosing what she wanted to wear. And I know that's silly, but it showed me right then and there that she had a mind of her own. That tenacity gave her father comfort. He never worried she would be taken advantage of. She turned into a very strong woman

woman, very sensitive woman that protected her heart with a somewhat of a crusty exterior but it was to protect a very sensitive inner side and she's fiercely loyal to all of her friends and all of her family so there's many occasions where she would like tune in a friend's boyfriend

for not treating her friends well. And that was pretty typical of her. Like she had a strong opinion. She was willing to share it. And in that way, she was a lot like me. So we had a kindred kind of spirit. We knew at six months she was different than her older sister, that she was more headstrong and stubborn. And the truth, when you have three daughters like I do,

I like that a lot because she was obviously going to be capable of taking care of herself and you know how difficult sometimes it can be for women especially in relationships with strong men or difficult men. I never worried about her having the ability to take care of herself not only in her working life but in her relationships. So she did not settle for

any situation that didn't work for her. - School came easily to Katie. She loved to write, but it was only when she was introduced to dance that she truly found her calling. - It was always great to watch her dance 'cause she was so passionate and her face lit up when she danced. You could tell that was her passion.

And that's where she was headed in her life. She had finally realized at 23 years old, after trying a few different things at school, that being a dance teacher was a great profession and she was doing it. And the kids were at the school, she was going into schools and the kids were responding like incredibly to her because she could command a room. How exciting was it for you as a mom seeing her just like find that thing? It was everything. Yeah.

She struggled a lot. Sorry. Yeah, she struggled a lot to figure out what she wanted to do. And I think because her older sister was so solid in what she wanted, she just knew. And I mean, of course, that's very rare as it was. But Katie floundered a little bit, not really knowing what direction she should go in. And I think, too, because she was 23...

She thought, you know, she should be getting herself together and knowing what she wanted to do. So yeah, when she decided on that, it was, she just lit up, like from inside, so her eyes were glowing again, and she had some of this confidence that I hadn't seen for a really long time. So that was just really, really special to see. Katie knew Jordan Segura from high school. They shared a circle of friends.

He was raised by Patty Segura, a single mother. And he had a brother who was only 17 months older than him. I can tell you they were each other's first friends. You know, Jordan followed Julian around. Even before he could move and crawl, he was watching every move Julian made.

Patty and her boys were like the three musketeers, all for one and one for all. We did pretty much everything together. The kids started skiing and snowboarding when they were quite young. I think they were probably about seven, eight years old. So the three of us, me and the two kids, we often went to Nakiska. This is before the kids were driving and having part-time jobs.

Many, many times we went to Nikiska and spent the day there. The kids would snowboard and I would ski and they were much better than me so they would have to come and check on me throughout the day but we had great days. Jordan was outgoing and social but as much as he loved his friends he also loved to spend time on his own playing video games.

Well one weekend me and Julian went away. Julian went away for school and I went with him the first time just to help him get set up. And so we were gone for the weekend and all Jordan had to do was stay home and take care of the dog. So he, when I got back on Sunday, he had these empty candy wrappers all over the coffee table and it was quite obvious that he just sat there all weekend and played Xbox.

In university, Jordan was taking history and religious studies and ended up interviewing a funeral director for a research paper. He made such a good impression, the funeral home offered him a job. He just fit in so well. So he was like the host. He was a limo driver for the families. So he had to go get his license to be able to drive a limo. And

He had no problem going to work every day. He loved his job. He would, you know, set up the area for visitation. He'd bake cookies. He'd make coffee and made juice for everybody. And he would be there for them. Doesn't matter what they wanted, he was there for them. He was there to greet them at the door when they arrived. You know, if he was driving the limo, he would drive the family wherever they wanted to go.

He spent time with families just waiting for them. If their family member was buried at a cemetery, you know, the funeral would be over, everybody would leave. And they want, if the family, the mom and dad wanted to stay, he would just wait. He was patient. Jordan wanted to be a humanitarian. Empathy and humanity was at the very core of who he was.

The funeral home found it to be a major asset. They asked Jordan if he would do a training video for the rest of the staff. So he was supposed to go around and meet with all the religious leaders in Calgary and interview them and find out their end-of-life ceremonies for their religions.

and then he was going to put it all together and then his work was going to use this as a training video for all of the staff because you know you don't want to offend anybody when you're doing their end of life ceremony so like a lot of people said well what are you going to do when you're done you know because that's not a common thing to do he wasn't going to be a teacher or a dentist or anything like that and he said right off the bat

When he graduated from university, he was going to be a consultant for businesses and the government that have officials that travel to other countries around the world. And he was going to explain to them about the other cultures in these countries that they were going to, so that they wouldn't offend the people.

You know, so this way if he taught them, when you go to this country, make sure you do this, this and don't do this. You know, so that was his plan for when he got out of university. Josh Hunter was one of Jordan's friends from high school. His parents, Kelly and Barkley Hunter, met when they were just 17. But they both took some time to travel and see the world.

I was going sailing in the British Virgin Islands. I asked her to... You can say that part too. Well, you can edit that out anyways. And we went sailing and then decided we were going to, you know... Get married. Get married. Settle down. And so we just, you know, kind of hit the ground running. Off we went. House, dog, kid, another kid. Josh was the oldest and he loved spending time with his parents and little sister.

He was known for his giant hugs and was always the one to offer comfort by wrapping his arms around his family and friends. Tender soul. Yeah, tender soul, great, great kid. You know, always just, we lived out in the country, so it was just a lot, you know, great, he had a great life. He lived, lived life to the fullest.

It became clear very early on Josh was born to be a musician. We got him into music very early. I think he was 10 when he started playing drums.

He was very passionate about that, connected with music in a big way, and that was a big part of his journey. Even from the get-go, he was the kind of kid that you weren't going, "Oh, God!" But he could do it. So it wasn't-- you weren't just hearing a bunch of smash and bash. He was actually-- he had rhythm. We had a room where-- the music room where it was set up. And so he worked at it and was involved in music at school and started a band.

you know, it was just a big part of his life. He was in grade 11 when they started Zachariah and the Prophets and Zach and Barry were in grade 10. They had a really cool sound. It was different. Yeah, they were kind of like, kind of like an indie, like chili pepper, kind of Black Keys mix, that kind of thing, kind of an indie with some funk and

They always wanted to make sure that people were moving to their music. You know, that it had to have groove, it had to have a good feel. And so that was a big part of it for them.

Josh was focused on making it in the music industry. He thought, you know, he could play music and he was starting to get ramped up on producing music and then he could, you know, understand the music business and approach it from that side. So it was really kind of bringing it all together. But, you know, we were pushing him, you know, go to school, get an education, then you can fall back on that if you need to, but, you know, keep doing your music as well.

He loved to perform and came alive on stage. Even on days when the band wasn't playing, he would find an audience to connect with. You know, he made a point of connecting with people and he'd go down to Princess Island Park and busk and so he was excited. Zachariah Rathwell was one of Josh's closest friends and part of the band.

They all felt he had the coolest name, so they became Zachariah and the Prophets. His name was carefully chosen by his parents, Bruce and Rhonda Lee Rathwell. I liked Zach, and I was really cognizant of the fact that names get shortened. And I liked Zachariah, and I liked...

the sound of it and the flow of it and I liked the shortened version Zach. But I didn't like Zach, so that's why he's Z-A-C-K-A-R-I-A-H. And we used to joke that he was going to be 20 before he knew how to spell his name. I have a footstool

that has his name carved into it in blocks. It's like a puzzle. And he used to, that was, you know, he'd stand on it to brush his teeth and things like that. And that, that was how he learned to spell his name 'cause he saw it twice a day. It was always there.

When he was just a little boy, it became clear Zach was gifted with a wildly creative mind. He was in the playpen and I had, I was doing laundry or something and I had to go up and down stairs. So I popped him in the playpen and I put on Fantasia, Disney's Fantasia.

And he stood there, and he sang along, and he conducted, and he would talk like he was given a soliloquy. And he loved that video. He would watch it over and over. His love of Fantasia was a hint of his passion for music that would come to light just a few years later. He was in, I'm going to say, grade seven.

and he wanted a guitar and he wanted guitar lessons. And I mean, anybody that has kids knows that they go through these sort of phases and do you really want to do that? Is that something you really want to do? Like, am I going to go out and spend $200 on something and it's going to get thrown in a closet? And he was, nope, I want to play guitar. And by that time, Bruce and I were divorced. And so there wasn't a lot of extra money.

And I had a girlfriend whose daughter had done exactly that. "Oh, I want to play guitar." And they had bought her a guitar and an amp, and it was now sitting in the back of the closet. And so she sold it to me for really cheap, and that was Zach's first guitar. And he never stopped playing. Zach spent hours and hours practicing in the basement.

The sound of him strumming would waft upstairs and bring a special calm to his mother. His progress was remarkable. His talent, undeniable. He also had a very original voice, so he took on the role of lead vocals. Watch out, I'm on a lock, watch out, I'm on a lock, lock.

♪ Did what you heard, I won't do what you told me to ♪ ♪ Did what you heard, I won't do what you told me to ♪ - Zach had found his true love in music. - He came to me and he said he'd really like to take a year and just work on his music.

And I said, "Okay, well, that's fair. Are you going to go to school or what do you mean when you say work on your music?" And he said, "Well, I just want to write and play and hang out with musicians." And I'm like, "Oh, really?" And so we actually came to an agreement that he would clean the house once a month and that would be his rent. And so he did.

Once a month, he'd kick us all out. No one could be home. And he would clean from top to bottom. And he did a really good job. And that was our agreement. Zachariah and the Prophets wasn't just a group messing around. The four friends were talented musicians who were making waves in Calgary. On April 12, 2014, two days before the party,

the band celebrated a major milestone, the release of their first EP. They described the album as a love child of five years of funky good times that came together in one crazy weekend. We were at the Palomino, sold out, packed room. Kelly's 80. She was...

Yeah, up on the chair grooving, the band was in great form, doing a great show. And we were, yeah, it was a huge night. There was a lot leading up to that, getting the EP done and then getting it all pulled together. And it was an amazing night and we were all super happy. They were so pumped, so excited about it.

got a lot of validation for the music that they were doing you know it was really cool the release was everything the band had ever dreamed of it was great all the bands were wonderful and then really when when zach and and the boys got up there they just

They just had everybody dancing and moving and cheering and yeah, it was just, it was pretty amazing. I have some video from that night that's very, very special. In the meantime, the roommates at the Butler Mansion in Brentwood, including Jordan Segura, spent several days tidying up. They were excited for their Bermuda Shorts Day party.

The last time we saw Jordan was at home. Julian was working in the garage and I was in the kitchen. And Jordan wanted to borrow the gardening equipment so he could clean up the yard at Butler. And so he loaded up the little trailer and he was leaving like I was in the kitchen. He walked past behind me and said, "Bye, Mom." And I said, "Make sure you lock up that garden equipment because somebody's going to steal it."

And he walked through the garage, said goodbye to Julian and left. And that was Sunday, Sunday evening. And then on Monday evening, I sent him a quick text and about eight. And I knew there was going to be a party at Butler. And I attached a picture of our dog to the text. And I said, are you partying, Jordan? And he replied, yes, Max. So that was the last text.

And that was the last time we saw Jordan. Katie had planned to go see her high school friends Josh and Zach playing at their EP release party, but she didn't end up making it. Instead, she planned to catch up with them at her friend Jordan's party the following Monday. She didn't go out very much. She was definitely a homebody.

And that was one of the reasons why she called, 'cause she was telling me that she was gonna go to this party. And I mean, it was with all her friends that she grew up with and went to school with. It wasn't some crazy university party that anybody and everybody was showing up to. It was just a really great group of kids. - Lawrence Hong had been burning the midnight oil, trying to finish his last term paper.

We're just inside the house. He will send me a text, "Dad, could you make me coffee?" So I go down and make him coffee. For two nights, I definitely will never forget that one. The machine was running overtime. The espresso machine was brewing everything. I never saw our machine works continuously. So he wasn't sleeping for basically 48 hours to finish his term paper.

By Monday morning, he was finally done. But he was exhausted. And he didn't think it was safe to drive, being so sleep-deprived. He asked his dad to take him. His mom also went along for the ride. He was like a Greek philosopher. And the way he talked, he treated me as a student. I didn't know. It was a sign that he was matured and also a sign that all my training

I'm going. He's going to the next life. Lorenzo loved every second of that drive, and he wanted it to last, so he slowed down. When they finally arrived, Lawrence had to run to get to class on time and was likely unaware of the lasting impact that final discussion would have on his parents. When Marlene moved from the back to the front seat, I said,

That day, the Bermuda short stay parties were underway at the university.

Josh shared a video of the festivities on social media with the caption, Crazy Town BSD. He parked there in the morning and rode his bike to school, went to Bermuda Shorts Day. Zach was taking classes at the Alberta College of Art and Design, now known as the Alberta University of the Arts.

After school, he went home and told his mom he planned to meet up with Josh and the rest of their friends in Brentwood. I specifically remember standing by the stove with him and him telling me what he was doing that night and that he only had a couple more classes left before he was done and that he was just going to... He was planning on drinking and he was going to ride his bike. He wasn't going to drive.

But he was going to stay over there. And then he would just ride his bike to ACAD in the morning because it was close. And I just told him I loved him. And he said he loved me. And I gave him a kiss. I had to stand on my tippy toes, give him a kiss. And he helped me carry the stuff out to the car and I drove off. And that was the last time I saw him. The party was pretty chill. Just a relaxed get-together. Nothing crazy or out of hand.

A few people hung around the fire pit in the backyard, others inside the house. There was one guy who stood out. He was 22 years old and was invited by Brendan, one of the roommates of the Brentwood house. They were childhood friends. He arrived late to the party and his conversations seemed ominous. He was going on and on about conspiracy theories.

Most of the people didn't think much of it. This wasn't a judgmental group, but his behavior got more and more strange. At one point, he put on blue surgical gloves and even kept them on when he washed his hands. He also carried garlic in his pocket. He started talking about things like the blood moon, the apocalypse, and vampires.

At around 1 a.m., a group of friends went to a nearby McDonald's to pick up food. In the meantime, Lawrence's lack of sleep caught up to him. He fell asleep on a loveseat in the living room. Josh, Katie, and Jordan were all sitting together on a couch across the room. Zach was in the kitchen. What happened next happened quickly and unexpectedly.

Matthew, the guy that had been acting strangely all night, suddenly took a large chef's knife from a block in the kitchen. He stabbed Zach seven times, then went into the living room. There was no warning, no fight, no altercation. He went up to Josh and stabbed him six times.

Jordan was beside Josh. He was stabbed once. Matthew was a stranger to them, and he was on a rampage. Katie tried to escape. She ran out of the living room, but he quickly caught up to her in the dining room. She was stabbed four times. Lawrence was still asleep in the living room when he was stabbed four times.

In the meantime, despite suffering life-threatening injuries, Josh got up and ran out of the front door of the house. Matthew followed him. At that same time, the group who had gone to pick up fast food returned to hear Katie's screams from inside the house and witnessed Matthew chasing Josh down the street with a kitchen knife in his hand.

Brendan, the roommate who invited Matthew, ran after him. Josh was still in a fight for his life and ran back towards the house, where he collapsed on the front lawn. Brendan caught up to Matthew down the street. He was holding the kitchen knife above his head with the blade pointed downward. Brendan grabbed his hand and told him to calm down.

Matthew finally handed over the blood-soaked knife and told him it was the night of the long knives and then took off. And again, Brendan caught up with him. Matthew wiped his bloody hands on Brendan's hands and told him they were blood brothers. He warned his friend not to get in his way or he would be next.

Brendan let Matthew go and ran back to check on his other friends. Meanwhile, back at the house, one of the other roommates was in her room. She put headphones on to watch TV and drown out any noise from the party. She was startled by the sound of screaming and yelling. She locked her bedroom door and called 911. She was the first of several calls for help.

Then she made her way down the stairs, horrified by what she found. She quickly joined the group of young people trying to provide first aid to the victims. It took first responders just minutes to arrive on scene. Zach, Jordan, and Lawrence were already gone. It's hard to get across just how quickly this all unfolded.

When homicide detective Matt DeMarino's phone rang early that morning, he had no idea the magnitude of the case he was about to take charge of. "I will never forget that moment until the day I die." He's a veteran, seasoned investigator, and he was shocked by what his staff sergeant told him.

was in bed and asleep. I took the call at about 2 o'clock in the morning and my boss told me, "We have three people dead. We have two more who are about to die." DeMarino estimates all five victims were stabbed in less than a minute. Josh was rushed to hospital but passed away about a half hour later. Katie was also taken to hospital.

But despite medical intervention, she was pronounced dead at 3 that morning. The scene back at the house was frenzied. Almost immediately after the 911 calls were made, Matthew was spotted by police running frantically away from the crime scene, and he quickly moved out of sight. The K-9 unit was dispatched to the area.

He was then spotted jumping out of a dumpster into a nearby alley. Police told him to stop, but he kept running. One of the police service dogs was deployed and caught up to Matthew. The dog tried to jump his chest, and he fought back, punching the dog in the head.

K-9 unit officers noted he had a blank stare on his face and appeared to have no fear of the police service dog, which was unusual. They continued to issue commands to stop and get on the ground. Instead, Matthew ran towards one of the officers and took a swing. The young man's bloody fist brushed up on the officer's forearm.

he turned to face another investigator in a boxing stance. That officer punched him in the face and knocked him to the ground as the police service dog bit Matthew's right arm. Officers said he showed no signs of pain, and he continued to fight back as they put him under arrest. Inside his pocket, police found a latex glove.

and he had a clove of garlic in his sock. He told the officer it was to keep the vampires away and said he wanted to speak to a lawyer. He was put into an ambulance and told EMS, "I was just trying to kill them before they killed me." We've never seen anything like this either before or since, thankfully. Police began the arduous process of interviewing the highly traumatized witnesses

and uncovered unexpected details of Matthew's behavior leading up to and immediately following the massacre. All of the facts in this case are documented by the courts, and I'll explain it all in more detail in the next episode. This was the single biggest mass killing in Calgary's history. Parents of hundreds of university students

would wake up to the horrifying news and dozens would call police panic-stricken, wondering if their children were the ones killed. That caused us a lot of concern. So obviously, you know, very shortly after this happened, the news broke of it. And...

We had a situation where we had a tremendous amount of parents waking up in the morning, watching the news and realizing that five university students had been killed. And of course their own kids had been out celebrating, you know, Bermuda shorts day. And you can imagine trying to call and maybe those kids aren't up yet or their phones aren't on anymore and all that kind of stuff. And the panic set in.

Five families were about to be shattered beyond repair. News of the deaths of their five children, siblings, loved ones has impacted every aspect of their lives and that pain will never go away. How could one person kill five people and so quickly? And an even bigger question was why? And why these five victims?

That's next time on Crime Beat. Crime Beat is written and produced by me, Nancy Hixt, with producer Dila Velasquez. Audio editing and sound design is by Rob Johnston. Special thanks to photographer-editor Danny Lantella for his work on this episode. Thank you to Jesse Wisner, our Crime Beat production assistant. And thanks to Chris Bassett, the VP of Network Content Production and Distribution and Editorial Standards for Global News.

I would love to have you tell a friend about this podcast. There are five seasons of stories you can listen to and share. And please consider rating and reviewing Crime Beat on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. You can find me on Facebook at Nancy Hickst Crime Beat and on Instagram at nancy.hickst. That's H-I-X-T. Thanks again for listening. Please join me next time.