Killer Gregory Despres can be transferred to Campbellton in new year, board rules

A New Brunswick man who killed his two elderly neighbours nearly two decades ago will be moved to the Restigouche Hospital Centre in Campbellton in the new year.

Gregory Despres, 39, has been held at the Shepody Healing Centre, part of Dorchester Penitentiary, ever since his trial.

In 2008, a judge found Despres killed his neighbours, Fred Fulton, 74, and Verna Decarie, 70, but ruled the Minto man wasn't criminally responsible for their deaths in 2005 because he suffered delusions stemming from paranoid schizophrenia.

Despres was in a Moncton courtroom Thursday for a hearing before the New Brunswick Review Board.

At a hearing in March, Despres told the board he would like to be transferred to a secure psychiatric facility in Ontario, or anywhere else, for a "change of scenery." 

A request to move Despres to Campbellton was made in 2013, but the Restigouche Hospital, which does treat prisoners with psychiatric disorders, expressed concern about being able to meet safety requirements for patients like Despres.

Shephody is a multi-level security facility, where mentally ill prisoners can be sent.

In March 2019, the review board recommended Despres be transferred to a mental hospital in Ontario. The Attorney General's Office subsequently opposed the transfer, and the review board later decided to reject Despres's application.

Dr. Louis Theriault, who has been treating Despres at Shedpody, didn't attend Thursday's hearing but has said in the past that a change in atmosphere might be beneficial. In March, he said there had been little change over the past few years, with Despres refusing to take part in programs.

Psychologist Lota Arsenault told the board that Despres remains compliant and takes his medication. He is also fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Despres, dressed in a blue shirt, represented himself at the hearing. He said he has taken part in some programs at Shepody, passing some and failing others.

Review board chair Lyne Raymond, speaking on behalf of the three member panel, said a decision must take into account the safety of the public and the needs of Despres. 

Raymond said staff from Shepody and Restigouche spoke and exchanged information, and Restigouche Hospital is in a position to accept Despres in the new year.

She said there was no indication that Restigouche can't handle the safety measures, and the transfer was approved.

After the hearing, Fred Fulton's daughter-in-law, Mary Kennedy-Fulton, said she was angry and upset.

Kennedy-Fulton wants an independent security review of the Restigouche Hospital. She said she doesn't know what's changed since the hospital expressed concerns about safety in 2013.

"I would be crazy, even though there's been lots of good treatment things that have happened at Restigouche Hospital, to say I'm OK with it when I don't know anything has changed security wise," Kennedy-Fulton said.

"We're not opposed to him getting treatment. What we're opposed to is the risk to the community and our family from this man."

Kennedy-Fulton said this isn't a normal case, because of the brutality of the crime.

"He hasn't admitted to it, he's not in treatment. How can we say that [the transfer] is OK ...  if we haven't done an independent security review to make sure that everybody's going to be safe."