Psychiatrist says Matthew Raymond was delusional the morning he shot, killed 4 people

A psychiatrist who diagnosed Matthew Raymond with schizophrenia testified his delusions were present before, during and after he shot and killed four Fredericton residents.

On Wednesday, Dr. Julian Gojer told the jury Raymond's political, religious and persecutory delusions started in 2017 and continued past 2018.

"To me there's no doubt that the schizophrenia illness carried on, it has persisted," he said. "It goes right through the time period of the alleged offences. It's inextricably interwoven with his actions at the time."

Raymond, 50, has admitted to killing Donnie Robichaud and Bobbie Lee Wright from his apartment at 237 Brookside Dr., then Fredericton constables Sara Burns and Robb Costello when they responded to calls of shots fired on Aug. 10, 2018.

He has pleaded not guilty, and his defence team is arguing he was not criminally responsible for the shooting on account of a mental illness. Raymond previously testified he thought the end times had come and he was shooting demons, not humans, to defend himself.

The Crown and defence have agreed Raymond had a mental illness at the time of the shooting, meaning to get a not-guilty verdict, the defence must prove to the jury, on a balance of probabilities, that Raymond's mental illness either stopped him from knowing the nature and consequences of his actions, or knowing what he was doing was wrong.

Raymond was cross examined Monday and Tuesday, where he said repeatedly he knew opening fire would kill, but he thought he was killing demons.

Gojer said it's not possible that Raymond would have delusions before the crime and after the crime, but "magically" be rational the day he shot the victims.

Gojer said he interviewed Raymond multiple times, once three weeks after the shooting, and most recently in October of this year.

Gojer told the jury five to 10 per cent of people with schizophrenia die by suicide and a "small portion" of them also kill people. He said Raymond has delusions of persecution, that people were watching or targeting him. He said Raymond also has grandiose delusions that God has a special purpose for him, that God had given him a power to point out demons.

He has "bizarre" ideas about "connecting numbers to people and identifying them as demons... He has delusions that animals are talking to him," Gojer says.

Gojer also said because of the extent of the computer data, and what he heard from Raymond and his family, he doesn't believe Raymond is faking his illness.

"Rather than dismissing it as a malingering and a flash in the pan psychosis, we're having solid evidence [of schizophrenia]," he said.

Gojer said there are multiple features of schizophrenia, and not all of them have to be present for a diagnosis. He said the features include delusions, hallucinations, disordered thoughts, social withdrawal, isolation, flat or restricted affect and loss of cognitive functioning.

"At different periods of time, almost all features of schizophrenia were seen," Gojer said.

Gojer said before 2017, Raymond was a "quiet man" who kept to himself, and was "areligious" and politics was not a big issue for him.

But then in 2017 he began protesting an anti-Islamophobia bill, and from there he thought he was targeted.

'That's bizarre'

Gojer said a belief in demons doesn't necessarily mean someone has schizophrenia, but for Raymond, it's about the explanation behind the belief. He said Raymond thought demons were real, and walked among humans. He thought Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was a demon who supported Muslim terrorists.

"Do the general public see Trudeau as a demon? Serpent? They're very bizarre, odd, they don't add up," Gojer said.

He said the general population would say "that's bizarre."

Gojer said there are people on the internet who have conspiracy theories, but Raymond went "much above and beyond" those. "Mr. Raymond took some beliefs and ran with them," he said.

Two psychiatrists have testified already. Dr. Scott Woodside testified he diagnosed Raymond with delusional disorder. Woodside said if the jury accepts Raymond's account of what happened on the morning of Aug. 10, then he would endorse a not-criminally-responsible finding.

Dr. Ralph Holly testified he diagnosed Raymond with schizophrenia, but declined to comment on criminal responsibility as he only assessed his fitness to stand trial.

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