Matthew Raymond murder case sent to higher court without preliminary hearing

The Crown is filing a direct indictment in the case against Matthew Vincent Raymond, which will send the Fredericton man accused of killing four people last August straight to a possible trial without a preliminary hearing.

A direct indictmentelevates the first-degree murder case to the Court of Queen's Bench from provincial court, where a preliminary hearing would normally be held to determine if there is enough evidence to send a caseto trial.

Raymond, 48, appeared in court Friday afternoon after an additional 30-day psychiatric assessment was completed to determine whether he is not criminally responsible. A previous 60-day assessment was deemed incomplete.

Raymond was charged after constablesRobbCostello, 45, and Sara Burns, 43, and civiliansDonnieRobichaud, 42, andBobbiLee Wright, 32, were shot to death outside an apartment building on the north side of Fredericton on Aug. 10.

A publication ban has been ordered onall details of the psychiatric assessments.

The court was not told Friday whether Raymond is or isn't criminally responsible. Defence lawyer Alison Mnardsaid those findings will come out in due course.

Mnardsaid it's not "fair to the process" to assume the decision to file a direct indictmentwasrelated to the psychiatric assessment findings.

"I don't think it would be a fair thing for people to make assumptions about what that all means," she said.

A direct indictment doesn't mean an immediate judge or judge-and-jury trial.

Raymond will make a provincial court appearance on April 8, when those proceedings may be stayed so the process can continue in Court of Queen's Bench.

Raymond hasn't entered a plea yet.