B.C.’s Criminal Justice Branch has applied to have Allan Schoenborn, the mentally ill man who killed his three children in 2008, designated as high-risk.
Crown said the designation would mean a more restrictive detention order for Schoenborn, who was found not criminally responsible for the murders and placed in a forensic psychiatric hospital east of Vancouver.
“If a person is found by the court to be a high-risk accused then there is a more restrictive regime with respect to the confinement of the individual in the hospital,” spokesman Neil MacKenzie said.
It could also mean Schoenborn will no longer have his detention status reviewed every single year – a situation his victims’ family has said leaves them stressed and unable to move on with their lives.
Instead, Schoenborn could have a Review Board Hearing once every three years, though Crown cautioned the extended period is dependent on certain conditions being met.
It’s also unclear what the designation could mean for the escorted day passes into the community that Schoenborn was granted earlier this year.
MacKenzie said it’s still possible for patients deemed high-risk to leave the hospital under supervision.
“The provision is that the person’s only allowed out for medical reasons or for part of their treatment,” he said.
The day passes Schoenborn was granted were supported by his hospital’s director and his psychiatrist, who said they would help with his rehabilitation.
Crown said for Schoenborn to be deemed high-risk, prosecutors must establish there’s a “substantial likelihood” he will use violence that could endanger another person, or that the offence he committed was of such a brutal nature “they indicate a risk of grave physical or psychological harm to others.”
It will be up to a Supreme Court judge to determine whether the accused meets the criteria.
A first appearance has been scheduled for Sept. 10.
