The speedy arrest of Matt de Grood in connection with the killing of five people at a Brentwood house party and charging him with the most serious crime in the criminal code — first-degree murder — are ample evidence the Calgary police homicide investigation is thorough and impartial, a spokesman for the department said Thursday.

De Grood, 22, is the son of a high-ranking Calgary police officer, Insp. Doug de Grood — a relationship that led Alberta Justice to assign the prosecution to Crown attorneys from Edmonton.

Facing questions from reporters Thursday about whether an outside agency should take over the homicide investigation, police spokesman Kevin Brookwell said it’s not necessary.

“The cornerstone of our profession is to investigate matters like this without favour or bias,” Brookwell said.

“We’re going to, as we do for every file ... investigate this to the infinite detail.”

De Grood is being held in custody at the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre pending an appearance in provincial court next Tuesday.

He is charged in connection with the deaths of Lawrence Hong, 27, Josh Hunter 23, Kaitlin Perras, 23, Zackariah Rathwell, 21 and Jordan Segura, 22, during a house party early Tuesday celebrating the last day of classes at the University of Calgary.

A source told the Herald de Grood had been acting strangely in the days prior to the killings. The source, a friend of the family, said de Grood had sent some “disjointed” text messages in the hours before the crime prompting his parents to fear he would commit suicide.

Police refused to go into details about at Thursday’s news conference, but reiterated de Grood’s state of mind is a key avenue of investigation.

“That’ll be a significant part of what we’re looking at,” Brookwell said.

De Grood’s defence lawyer, Allan Fay, said Thursday that the suspect’s father, Doug de Grood, will deliver a prepared statement to the media at 3 p.m. MDT.

More to come ...

jvanrassel@calgaryherald.com

Twitter: JasonvanRassel