Schoenborn denied release by review panel

Schoenborn denied release by panel

Despite his plea to be freed immediately, convicted child-killer Allan Schoenborn will remain in psychiatric care — a decision he ultimately said he agreed with.

The British Columbia Review Board at the Forensic Psychiatric Institute in Port Coquitlam said Tuesday that Schoenborn poses a serious threat of violence to the public.

Schoenborn was convicted in February of killing his three children, but was found not criminally responsible due to mental illness.

He had asked the board earlier Tuesday for a conditional discharge.

Upon hearing the board's decision, Schoenborn said he agreed. "I think you decided right for me and the public," he told the panel.

He also asked panelists not to allow the children's mother, Darcie Clarke, to make a victim impact statement, calling it hysterical.

The panel disregarded the request and did hear a statement from Clarke, who discovered the children's bodies in her Merritt, B.C., home after they were murdered two years ago.

She told the panel that she'll never be able to get the image out of her head.

"I fear if he ever gets out, I will have to go into hiding for the rest of my life," Clarke said in her statement, parts of which were read out to the panel.

Admitted killings

The prosecution asked that Schoenborn be held in custody for at least another year. Psychiatrist Dr. Johann Brink told the panel that Schoenborn remains a risk to both the public and himself.

At his trial, Schoenborn described in grisly detail how he killed his two sons and daughter. The judge found that he was in a psychotic state at the time.

In February, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Powers, who heard the three-month trial in Kamloops without a jury, found that the killings were deliberate and planned by Schoenborn, but that he was not sane at the time.

Powers said Schoenborn had to remain in custody and appear before the British Columbia Review Board within 90 days to determine where he would be held.

I think it is the right decision not to release this man at this time. He was just recently found not criminally responsible and needs a longer period for treatment of his mental disorder, as he is still a risk to himself and to the public. I feel that it was the right decision to find him NCR as he was incapable of truly knowing what he was doing at the time, therefore making his actions involuntary, unconscious and not blameworthy.

Allan Schoenborn remains in secure psych hospital for 90 days while case is reviewed

- Found NCR for killing his 3 children will be sent to a secure psychiatric hospital and will be held until he is deemed no longer a risk to the public safety.
- Will be sent to the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Port Coquitlam, where his case will be considered by the B.C. Review Board within 90 days.
- He was convicted of three counts of murder but was held not criminally responsible for his actions. 
- Crown said it was an act of retribution against his wife. 
- The BC Review Board will review Schoenborn's case every 12 months. 
- The board must balance the rights of Schoenborn with a determination of whether he poses a further risk to the public.
- Theoretically, could be free in 3 months but Defence said it's unlikely he will be released in May or anytime afterwards. 
- He killed his 3 children because he believed they were being molested. 
- A Judge said he was suffering from a disease of the mind when he killed his children, that was a delusional disorder with some symptoms of schizophrenia
- Schoenborn will spend 90 days in a secure psychiatric unit while a BC Review Board composed of experts including psychiatrists, discusses his case. 

- "My guess is that they'll start to treat him with some anti-psychotic medications and they will just supervise him and it will be up to the review board to decide if he's ever released, and if he is, when that will happen and under what terms," said Schoenborn's lawyer, Peter Wilson

- After the 90-day evaluation, the board will decide if Schoenborn will be freed with or without supervision, or detained in custody at a hospital, said Neil MacKenzie, a spokesman at the B.C. Ministry of the Attorney General.

- "Obviously, in making that decision, what the review board has to take into account is what steps are necessary to protect the public safety from an individual who's been found to have a mental disorder, but also balancing that with the requirement that they protect the rights of mentally disordered individuals," said MacKenzie.

- But one criminal defence lawyer, who is currently working on a first-degree murder case, said that people with mental disorders who have committed serious crimes are rarely released after a three-month review — if ever.

- "There's a perception that people who are found not criminally responsible aren't punished, or are somehow released back into the community, but it's practically quite the opposite," said Toronto lawyer Sean Robichaud.

- Unlike murder convictions, which come with set parole eligibility dates, there are no such provisions for those deemed not criminally responsible, he said.

- "So if the person simply is never found to be safe to be released back into society, then they will spend the rest of their lives in custody."

- Wilson agreed the possibility that Schoenborn could be released after the three-month evaluation is slim.

- "Clearly any reasonable or rational person would know that it was wrong and would know that other reasonable people would believe it was wrong. However, due to Mr. Schoenborn's psychosis at the time, he was not able to make that decision," said the Judge

- The Crown told the court that Schoenborn killed his children to get revenge on his partner, who had told him she didn't want to continue their common-law relationship.

- Could be granted an absolute discharge if it's determined he doesnt pose a threat to the public, said the BC Review Board. 

- They will go over the psychiatric reports discussed at trial before making their decision in 90 days.

- "It can detain Mr. Schoenborn at the forensic psychiatrist hospital presumably for a year until another hearing is held or it could release him into the community under various forms of psychiatric monitoring and supervision." 

Killer dad to be sent to secure psych hospital
R. vs. Schoenborn Decision

BC father who killed kids could be free in 3 months

Guilty of murder, not criminally responsible 

BC dad could get absolute discharge

I believe what the Toronto lawyer said in that the public has this perception that people found NCR aren't punished or are released into the community, but that is most often not the case. They are actually less likely to ever be released because they are not eligible for parole, like they would be if in prison, and can only be released if it is deemed that they are not a risk to the public safety. I think that the argument of the defence, clearly demonstrates this man's delusional and psychotic symptoms and the Judge was correct in ruling him not criminally responsible, as he cannot be blamed for something that he doesnt remember and for something caused by a mental disorder.

Allan Schoenborn found not criminally responsible for the murder of his 3 children

- Allan Schoenborn was found guilty but not criminally responsible for the first degree murders of his 3 children in his Merrit, BC home in April 2008 
-  He acknowledged killing his children bur plead not guilty to the charges
- Judge ruled that the killings were deliberate and planned but that Allan was not sane at the time, therefore, cannot be held responsible. 

- “I find on balance of probabilities he was suffering from a disease of the mind."

- He will remain in custody until his case is reviewed by a mental health review board. 

- “No-one can know for sure whether Mr. Schoenborn at the time of killing his children was suffering from a mental disorder that rendered him incapable of knowing it was wrong,” the judge stated.

- “Mr. Schoenborn was, if anything, over-protective of his children. The irony is that the real danger to the children was Mr. Schoenborn himself and none of the dangers he imagined in his mind.”

- “I find it unlikely (he) would have killed his children out of anger given the close and caring relationship he had with his children"

- He rejected the Crown’s assertion that Schoenborn killed his children as revenge against their mother, who discovered their bodies in their home. 

- “Any reasonable or rational person would know that was wrong,” he said. “However, due to his psychosis at the time he was not able to make that decision.” 

Schoenborn not criminally responsible for murders 

Schoenborn guilty not not criminally responsible 

Schoenborn not criminally responsible for killing kids

I agree with the Judge's decision in this case that this man was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the killing. He will now be held in a mental health facility indeterminately, until it is deemed that he is not a risk to the public. 

 

Allan Schoenborn Murder Trial

The verdict in this BC dad's murder trial is expected sometime this week. Here are the facts of the case: 

Allan Schoenborn is a Vancouver man charged with killing his 3 children aged 10, 8 and 5. He is charged with first degree murder in the April 2008 killing.


Case for the Defence:
- When he killed them, "he was on an entirely different planet."
- Allan believed his children were being sexually abused
- Says he killed to protect them and couldnt let his children endure being molested
- Thought they were "destined to suffer a fate worse than death."
- He had no option if he wanted to protect them, except kill them
- He believed it was moral and right to do that
- Two experts say he suffers from a major mental illness
- Should be found not criminally responsible for the crimes because of his mental state

- "The reality he saw was his children were at great risk, that they were destined to suffer a fate worse than death and he had no option but to kill them."

- The defence says the killings were the culmination of two decades of mental illness by a man who suffered paranoid delusions dating back to 1987.

- An altercation at a bus station and incident at his daughter's school where he accused teachers of prostituting her in the days before the killings are evidence of Schoenborn's declining mental state

- To him, killing them was the only sensible course of action.
- Never told anyone before the killings that he feared his children were being sexually abused- meaning he was psychotic and delusional when he stabbed them
- Killed his children out of love and was blinded by delusion
- No witnesses to say that he was seeking revenge (Crown's notion)
- Long history of mental illness
- No evidence that he was angry at his partner (like the Crown says) 

- Schoenborn said he tried to kill himself at home, but failed and instead ran to the mountains where he again tried to commit suicide.

- He was found in the woods 10 days later, dehydrated and suffering self-inflicted wounds.

The children's bodies were found by their mother in their Merritt, B.C., home on April 6, 2008.

- The defence is arguing that Schoenborn should be found not criminally responsible for the killings due to mental disorder

Case for the Crown:
- No evidence to support he was psychotic when he killed children in sleep
- Even if he was mentally ill, he knew what he was doing was wrong
- Killed because seeking revenge against his wife  who left him after 15 years together
- Allan has testified in detail how he stabbed, strangled and smothered his children

- He told the court that the girl fought back, putting her hand up and crying out "I'm sorry, Daddy, I'm sorry," and then pulled his hair as he slashed her neck.

- He separated the three children before killing each one separately. - No evidence the children were abused
- Crown psychiatrist interviewed Allan and said he was lucid and aware of the situation
- Examined Allan right after arrested and said he didnt see signs of mental illness and none were reported by medical staff

- Crown contends the killings were an act of revenge against the children's mother.

- Crown says Allan Schoenborn concocted the self-serving explanation for his crime, and should be found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder.

- Schoenborn never told anyone of his fears the children were being abused.

- Bizarre incidents in the days prior to the murders were caused by alcohol, and insisted there were no cases of Schoenborn showing symptoms of illness before or after he was arrested.

- Court has heard that Schoenborn has never been diagnosed with a mental illness.

- Schoenborn described in grisly detail stabbing and suffocating his daughter to death and then smothering his young sons.

- He told the court that his daughter struggled with him as he slashed her neck with a cleaver, telling him "I'm sorry, daddy, I'm sorry." He suffocated the boys with a pillow and a plastic bag.

He has been in custody since he was found, emaciated, hypothermic and with self-inflicted wounds to his arms, in the woods near the community of Merritt following a 10-day manhunt.

There's been no evidence presented at the trial that the children were, in fact, being sexually molested.

- Three psychiatrists testified at the trial - one who told the court that Schoenborn was mentally ill, one who said he found signs of paranoia but did not believe the accused was mentally ill and another who said he could not be sure of the man's motives when he killed the children.

BC father describes killing his children 

Killer dad not in his right mind

Psychiatrist unsure of motive behind killings 

Theories of altruism and anger compete 

Father awaits trial decision 

Killer dad on an entirely different planet 

Verdict expected Monday