`No concerns' about man before triple-stabbing

Suspect had history of sudden violence, but was progressing well: review board

The man accused of stabbing three people at a festival in Vancouver's Chinatown had a history of sudden violence, but a report says he showed no signs of deteriorating mental health as he left a psychiatric hospital that day.

The report posted on the website of the B.C. Review Board says Blair Donnelly had been leaving the forensic hospital in Coquitlam on unaccompanied day passes “several times per week, without issue,” in the months leading up to the stabbings.

It shows Donnelly met four times with his treatment team between his appearance at the review board last April and the Chinatown assaults in September, and “no concerns were reported” about his mental state.

The report says he presented as “settled, calm and co-operative” during an assessment before leaving for a bike ride, but police and prosecutors say he instead went to Vancouver, and now faces three counts of aggravated assault.

Donnelly, who is in his mid-60s, had previously been found not criminally responsible for stabbing his teenage daughter to death in 2006.

The review board document says Donnelly has “a history of acting out violently with the use of weapons” and in all cases, he has showed “no warning signs.”

“The accused's mental condition either deteriorated very quickly after he left (the hospital) or was present but was well hidden from experienced treatment providers who know him well,” the decision says. “In either case, the result was that (he) engaged in significant unprovoked violence without apparent warning.”

The board's decision, dated Dec. 4, 2023, says Donnelly has been remanded in custody following the stabbings last fall.

The board ordered him to remain at the hospital, where he would have no privileges.

The decision will be up for review in 12 months, it says.

Donnelly has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault after the attacks at the Light Up Chinatown! festival, which left three people seriously injured.

At the time, B.C. Premier David Eby told reporters he was “whitehot” angry over the approval of Donnelly's day release.