Board urged to not give B.C. child killer false hope
Giving a British Columbia man who killed his three children during a psychotic break the false hope of escorted outings from a psychiatric facility will interfere with his recovery from serious mental illness, a review board has heard.
Crown counsel Wendy Dawson advised a B.C. Review Board Hearing on Friday to withdraw the discretionary power it gave the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam two years ago to allow Allan Schoenborn, 49, accompanied access into the community.
“Holding out the possibility of (outings), dangling the carrot by the treatment team did not get Mr. Schoenborn engaged in treatment,” she told the board.
“Expediency never trumps public safety,” she added.
But defence lawyer Dante Abbey said the possibility of escorted outings is an important tool to motivate Schoenborn in his recovery and withdrawing it would do further harm.
“He is making a genuine effort. He is digging down and looking for answers.”
Schoenborn stabbed his 10-year-old daughter Kaitlynne and smothered his sons Max and Cordon, who were eight and five, in their home in Merritt in April 2008.
A judge later ruled the man was not criminally responsible for the deaths because he was experiencing psychosis at the time and believed he was saving them from a life of physical and sexual abuse.
Final arguments wrapped up Friday in Schoenborn’s annual review board hearing over the issue of granting him some freedoms. A decision is not expected before Nov. 17.
Psychiatrist Dr. Marcel Hediger, a member of Schoenborn’s treatment team, told the hearing his client still struggles with anger management but the outbursts have become less frequent and intense over the past six months. Schoenborn has difficulty putting anger-control techniques he has learned into practice but he has developed better insight into what causes him to react, Hediger said.
Hediger said it is possible, but unlikely that he would recommend Schoenborn for escorted outings into the community within the next year.