Emphasized Information and How It Corresponds with Course Material

The podcast emphasized that despite the horrific actions carried out by de Grood, he was found to be not criminally responsible in the eyes of the Alberta judicial system. Families of the victims were distraught when they realized after the perpetrator’s 2016 trial that de Grood would have the opportunity to be discharged with no criminal record and be able to establish a new identity. For example, in the podcast, it discusses Vince Li, a man who stabbed and dismembered Tim McLean in 2008 and was granted absolute discharge seven years later. Every year, De Grood has appeals that examine his progress, where families of the victims attend to disclose statements on why he should not be granted the opportunity to be released. The statements expressed at the appeals set back the ability for the families to heal from the trauma and are claimed to not make an impact. In 2018, de Grood was moved to a different psychiatric facility so he would not come in contact with any family members or friends of the victims on community walks. In Unit 1, Canadian Parents of Murdered Children’s (2018) article Health and Social Issues Following the Murder of a Loved One discusses the lack of closure families feel when there is no conviction and that they are also victims of the crime because they are invisible to the judicial system (CPMOC, 2018). The information being emphasized in the podcast corresponds with this article as it conveys the feelings families feel, such as confusion and estrangement, as a result of murder (CPMOC, 2018). Apart from feeling devastated and exhausted, the families of the victims believe their contributions do not make an impact and that granting de Grood absolute discharge will develop additional problems in society.