UPDATE: No decision will come today. More to come...
From earlier:
The B.C. Review Board hearing for Allan Schoenborn, the man who killed his three children in 2008, resumed Thursday with questions for Schoenborn's case manager.
Liane Lee testified that since Schoenborn's admission to 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.
"We have seen lots of control when people cal him a child killer," Lee said.
Crown lawyer Wendy Dawson began her cross examination of the witness by detailing incidents involving Schoenborn since he arrived at FPH.
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 has not participated in any other programs nor has he furthered his Grade 9 education. She suggested Schoenborn lives in a tightly controlled environment and remains fairly isolated, meaning there had been little opportunity to observe his behaviour in more unpredictable settings.
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.
A statement released by Darcie Clarke, Schoenborn's ex-partner and the mother of the children he murdered, and her cousin, Stacy Galt, earlier this week laid bare the torment the family endures at the killer's annual hearings.
"She [Darcie Clark] cannot bring herself to appear in the gallery as the very proximity to Allan sickens and frightens her," the statement reads. "Darcie is unfinished business to him and I know should he be given the slightest bit of freedom, he will continue his life-long reign of terror and violence."
The statement also notes Schoenborn has had more than 40 violent interactions with staff and patients in the last four years. "Yet 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 rec 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.
Should the Review Board deem Schoenborn high-risk, the ruling would be reviewed by a B.C. Supreme Court judge.
