Minto killer Gregory Despres ordered to remain in prison by board
42-year-old who killed two people remains a threat to the public, board says
WARNING: This story contains vulgar language.
A man who killed his elderly neighbours in Minto 20 years ago was ordered Wednesday to remain at a federal prison.
Gregory Allan Despres killed Fred Fulton, 74, and Verna Decarie, 70. They were found dead in their Minto home on April 26, 2005. Both had been stabbed repeatedly, and Fulton was decapitated.
In 2008, a judge ruled Despres was not criminally responsible for their deaths because he suffered delusions stemming from paranoid schizophrenia.
The 42-year-old has remained in custody and has undergone regular New Brunswick Review Board hearings to determine if changes to his treatment and location are warranted.
Despres's psychiatrist filed reports recently asking the board to transfer him elsewhere following an assault of a psychiatrist and threatening another person.
Return to Restigouche rejected
The board considered whether he should be relocated from the Shepody Healing Centre, part of Dorchester Penitentiary, to the provincially run Restigouche Hospital Centre in Campbellton.
The board rejected the move.
Rena Levesque, the board chair, said the three-person panel didn't have information about how it would improve his condition. The psychiatrist, whose reports requested Despress be moved, didn't attend the hearing.
"He shows poor judgment and remains a significant threat to the public," Levesque said of Despres.
Wednesday's hearing took place in the Moncton courthouse, with Despres appearing by video conference with poor sound quality. Several family members of Fred Fulton and Verna Decarie took part on a conference call.
Prosecutor Patrick Wilbur said the Crown wasn't objecting to a transfer to the psychiatric hospital but said security would have to be adequate.
Despres was previously transferred to Restigouche but was sent back to Shepody by the board last year after he threatened to behead a staff member.
Levesque asked Despres if he understood why the transfer was requested. It led to him saying he wanted to be moved to a different unit. Levesque asked how he'd feel about staying in Shepody.
"Negative, I'm not going to stay in jail the rest of my life," Despres said.
"Oh dear lord," one of the family members on the conference call could be heard saying.
"Shut up, shut the f--k up," Despres responded.
It was followed by several exchanges between the board chair and Despres, where they spoke over each other, making it difficult to hear what the other said.
At one point, Despres mentioned having lung cancer and liver cirrhosis.
Shortly before the board left the courtroom to deliberate, Despres told them keeping him in the same location is "just going to make me a worse person."
Levesque said the board would hold its next review for Despres in two years.
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