City man who killed spouse asks top court to hear appeal

Schreiner was convicted of murder in 2021

Blake Jeffrey Schreiner is trying to appeal his second-degree murder conviction at the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) after he was denied at Saskatchewan's Court of Appeal (SKCA) last year.

Schreiner was convicted of murder in 2021 and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 17 years. At his Saskatoon Court of King's Bench judge-alone trial, he admitted stabbing his 39-year-old spouse, Tammy Brown, 80 times in her River Heights neighbourhood home on Jan. 29, 2019.

They were living separately at the time, but their two young children lived with Brown. One of them witnessed the brutality.

Schreiner appealed his murder conviction and length of parole ineligibility, arguing that he was suffering from a mental disorder when he killed Brown and should have been found not criminally responsible.

The appeal judges dismissed the appeal, finding the trial judge did not mishandle Schreiner's mental health issues, and that the parole eligibility was appropriate considering his culpability.

Schreiner, who a psychiatrist called by the defence diagnosed as having schizotypal personality disorder, testified that he thought Brown was trying to kill him.

However, Justice Ronald Mills agreed with the Crown's psychiatrist, ruling Schreiner wasn't suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the killing. Part of his conclusion was based on statements Schreiner made during a Saskatchewan Hospital psychiatric assessment to determine if he was fit to stand trial.

Schreiner had told a psychiatrist that he was concerned Brown was going to leave him and prevent him from seeing their kids.

“He said that while thinking of all of this, including whether or not he should kill her, he went outside for a smoke. When he came back he thought he needed to get rid of (Brown),” the appeal judges wrote, citing Mills' trial decision.

In his appeal to Saskatchewan's top court, Schreiner argued those statements were “protected” and shouldn't have been used to convict him of murder because they were provided during a medical assessment.

Saskatoon defence lawyer Patrick Thomson confirmed Schreiner is only appealing the SKCA'S decision in regard to his conviction.

The SCC must first decide if it will even hear the appeal. If the appeal application is allowed, a hearing date will be set.

According to the SCC, Schreiner's leave for appeal was filed on Jan. 10.