The B.C. Review Board hearing for Allan Schoenborn, the man who murdered his three children in 2008, will be held over to a future date to hear evidence from an expert on risk assessments.
The annual hearing, now on its second day after originally being scheduled for just half a day, resumed Thursday morning with questions for forensic case nurse and Schoenborn's case manager, Liane Lee.
Lee testified that since Schoenborn's admission to the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital (FPH) in Coquitlam five years ago, he has become less intense, quicker to return to baseline behaviour and accepts staff intervention. When he first arrived, she said, he was guarded, hostile and suspicious of FPH staff. In the past year, she said, he has become less irritable and there has been less "posturing" behaviour - or when Schoenborn's fists are clenched and his face becomes red in a "fighting stance."
Asked whether he is easily provoked, Lee said it depends on the person or what the argument is about. Incidents about which the witnesses so far have been questioned include Schoenborn reacting aggressively, either verbally or physically, to a co-patient asking for nuts, changing the television channel and particularly when he's been called names such as "child killer."
Crown lawyer Wendy Dawson began her cross examination of Lee by detailing incidents involving Schoenborn since he arrived at FPH, of which there were about a dozen in the past year, noting he continues to blame others for the incidents.
Dawson also noted an incident in September 2014 when Schoenborn was assaulted by another patient, and although he did not retaliate Schoenborn continued to harbour animosity towards the attacker for several weeks.
"Nevertheless you thought he still needed to develop his anger management skills...and that's still your opinion today?" Dawson asked Lee.
"Yes," she replied.
Schoenborn has been at the hospital since 2010, when he was found not criminally responsible for the murders of his three children - 10-year-old Kaitlynne, eight-year-old Max and five-year-old Cordon. He fled the scene and spent about two weeks hiding in the woods before he was caught.
He has consented to remain in the hospital but has again requested escorted day passes. His annual hearing began on Feb. 12 but was recessed with still more witnesses to be questioned.
Two weeks ago, psychiatrist Dr. Marcel Hediger was questioned for much of the day about Schoenborn's mental health status, his history of angry outbursts and the progress he'd made during his treatment. Hediger stated that Schoenborn suffers from delusional disorder and paranoid personality traits but has been responding well to anti-psychotic and anti-anxiety medication, as well as anger management therapy.
But Dawson noted Schoenborn stopped participating in programs other than anger management and peer support in 2012 because it felt "too much like work" and he didn't see the need to repeat programs.
She also emphasized Schoenborn's history of escaping custody and the risk to the public should he escape into the Tri-Cities' forests and mountains while on a day pass, during which he would be escorted by two therapists, not security guards.
"Do you still regard Mr. Schoenborn as presenting a serious risk to causing physical or psychological harm to a member of the public despot almost five years of treatment?" Dawson asked at the initial hearing.
"Yes," replied Hediger.
Outside today's hearing Stacy Galt, the cousin of Darcie Clarke, Schoenborn's ex-partner and the mother of the children he murdered, said Schoenborn has maintained only a five-month stretch of good behaviour, which shouldn't be enough to earn him day passes.
"It should be years of good behaviour, it should be years of completing programs," Galt said. Schoenborn's lack of motivation shows he doesn't really want to be part of society and should be "nowhere near day passes."
Galt also expressed the debilitating effect of the annual review process, with nightmares and difficulty eating, working and concentrating beginning before Christmas.
"Every time I walk into this Review Board it takes a piece of me," Galt said. "It does not get any easier, it just gets harder.
"I didn't do anything wrong, my cousin Darcie didn't do anything wrong, and we're being punished yearly for this."
A statement the family released earlier this week also called into question the seemingly contradictory evidence heard at the hearing so far, stating, "Two of his doctors share contradictory insights: He is getting better; he's still a risk to the safety of others. Passes into the community would be good for him; but he is a high risk to escape."
It also mentions several patients have escaped or did not return from their day passes, and that Schoenborn wants to visit places such as Coquitlam Centre, the Hyde Creek recreation centre, parks and coffee shops within a 15-minute drive of the hospital.
Clark and her family are hoping Schoenborn is declared a high-risk offender. Under new federal legislation known as the Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act, that designation could mean it will be another three years before Schoenborn is eligible to apply for such passes again.
At the hearing earlier this month, Galt said they fear Schoenborn is putting on a show in a bid to avoid the high-risk designation.
"We just want time to heal and three years is not too much to ask considering the heinous crime Allan Schoenborn committed," Galt said.
Should the Review Board deem Schoenborn as high-risk the ruling would be reviewed by a B.C. Supreme Court judge.
@spayneTC
