'Please keep my family safe; keep Despres in jail'
Published Friday May 29th, 2009
MONCTON - Family members of an elderly couple slain in its home more than four years ago begged a review board to keep the killer locked up indefinitely so they can feel safe.
Members of Fred Fulton and Verna Decarie's families attended Thursday's review board hearing in Moncton, held to determine the fate of killer Gregory Allen Despres.
The 26-year-old killed Fulton, 74, and Decarie, 70, in their Slope Road home in Minto on April 24, 2005. He stabbed both of them multiple times and decapitated Fulton.
A judge found that Despres committed the murders but wasn't criminally responsible for them because he was suffered from paranoid schizophrenic delusions at the time.
Twelve victim-impact statements from family members were filed with the New Brunswick review board, and three read theirs aloud at the hearing.
All agreed that while they've gotten better at dealing with the pain of their loss and moving on, the pain persists and probably always will.
"Yes, it is a bit better," said Fulton's sister Marilyn Richardson, but added the horrific way in which her loved ones were killed means the painful memories will always be with her.
Brenda Case, Fulton's niece and Richardson's daughter, said every spring, when the anniversary of the murders arrives, those old wounds are reopened.
The notion that the review board could one day release Despres into the community is too much to bear, she said.
Case said she remembers Despres glaring at her and other Fulton family members in the courtroom during the trial.
She said she fears Despres would target other members of the family if he was released.
"Please keep my family safe; keep Despres in jail," said Mary Elizabeth Kennedy-Fulton, Fred Fulton's daughter-in-law.
"My heart is still broken ... And yes, it is less painful in some ways. I still cry a lot and I still hurt a lot ... I just want it to be done, but I know it'll never be done."
Despres has been held in custody at the Shepody Healing Centre, a secure psychiatric facility at Dorchester Penitentiary, since before his conviction.
Family members expressed disgust at the hearing Thursday when it was revealed that Despres spends some of his spare time playing video games on his own PlayStation gaming console.
Christian Demore, a psychology resident who's treating Despres, told The Daily Gleaner that Despres earned the gaming unit through an in-house program at Shepody.
He said only original PlayStations are allowed, as PS2s and PS3s have modems, which are prohibited at the prison.
Demore said Despres has expressed an interest in sports games, not ones depicting violence.
The board ruled that Despres' continued detention is merited, as he remains a threat to the public.
The victims' family members were relieved when Despres consented to having his next review hearing delayed by a year.
Review hearings for patients being held after being found not criminally responsible are to be held annually.
However, a new section of the Criminal Code of Canada allows the accused to consent to a year delay if there's no reason to believe there will be a significant improvement in the patient's condition after just one year.
As a result, Despres' next review will be held around May 2011.
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