Child killer Allan Schoenborn remains eligible for 28-day leave

The British Columbia Review Board has ruled that Allan Schoenborn, who killed his three children in 2008, will keep his eligibility for up to 28 days of unescorted leave from a Metro Vancouver psychiatric hospital.

A decision posted online by the board says Schoenborn must not possess weapons, use alcohol or non-approved drugs or have contact with the relatives.

The decision also acknowledges Schoenborn's name change to Ken John Johnson, a move that led the provincial government to propose legislation to prevent those convicted of serious crimes from changing names in the future.

He was found guilty of the first-degree murder of his children, aged five, eight and 10, whose bodies were found in the family's Merritt, B.C., home in 2008, but a judge ruled he was not criminally responsible because of a mental disorder.

Earlier hearing cut short

The hearing and decision this week followed an earlier hearing in April that was abruptly adjourned after Schoenborn's lawyer said he would no longer appear in front of the board's current panel.

At the time, Schoenborn had yelled an expletive as the board chair asked his treating psychiatrist about what risks he may pose.

The April hearing was to determine whether Schoenborn must remain in treatment for another 12 months or receive a conditional or full discharge, which neither his defence team nor counsel for the attorney general of B.C. had advocated for.

Schoenborn exploded at board members when Forensic Psychiatric Hospital medical director Dr. Sophie Anhoury told board chair Brenda Edwards that he does show signs of some potential risks.

Schoenborn left the hearing room as Edwards called a recess.

After proceedings resumed, his previous defence lawyer, Rishi Gill, applied to adjourn the hearing until Schoenborn could get a new lawyer.

Schoenborn has been held at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam, B.C., since 2010, but in 2022, the Review Board granted the hospital director discretion to allow him up to 28 days of overnight leave.

Dave Teixeira, a spokesman for the children's relatives, said on the social media platform X that the decision is disappointing given that all parties at the board's hearing earlier this week agreed that Schoenborn remains a risk.

He says family members of the children are tense, especially after learning at the hearing that Schoenborn had been placed on a waiting list for a transitional housing facility that may eventually lead to a full discharge.