Former police chief to review Chinatown stabbing suspect's release

FILE: Then-Abbotsford Police Chief Bob Rich speaks about Const. John Davidson, who died in the line of duty, in Abbotsford, B.C., on Nov. 7, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The decision to grant day release privileges to the man accused in a triple-stabbing in Vancouver's Chinatown neighbourhood last weekend will be reviewed by a former police chief from B.C.'s Fraser Valley.

Premier David Eby announced Thursday that Bob Rich, who headed the Abbotsford Police Department for 10 years, will examine the circumstances leading to Blair Evan Donnelly's release from the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam.

Donnelly was subsequently arrested in connection with a stabbing at the Light Up Chinatown! festival on Sunday.

"This man has a long record of engaging in exactly this kind of conduct," Eby said during a news conference in Langley.

"We will ensure that Mr. Rich has access to all of the documents and individuals that he needs access to in order to share the details with British Columbians about how it could possibly be that this man was released into our communities, without warning."

Donnelly has been in treatment since he was found not criminally responsible for the 2006 stabbing death of his teenage daughter.

The 64-year-old, who was charged with second-degree murder, was determined to be under "religious delusions" at the time of the killing, according to a B.C. Review Board decision from earlier this year.

Donnelly allegedly stabbed two other people in the years that followed – first during a previously granted day release in 2009, then again while he was within the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in 2017.

Sunday's incident left three people seriously injured – a man and woman in their 60s and a woman in her 20s – and sparked upset in the community. The circumstances also inspired heated words from the premier earlier this week, who described himself as "white-hot angry."

The Forensic Psychiatric Hospital is a 190-bed secure facility that treats patient founds not criminally responsible for a crime, or unfit to stand trial due to a mental disorder. The B.C. Review Board manages the patients' ongoing care, deciding under which conditions they could be allowed back into the community.

A decision dated April 2023 found Donnelly "continues to meet the threshold of significant threat."

"Of significant concern regarding risk assessment is that all the incidents occurred without warning signs and that the two relapses occurred after lengthy periods of remission without any indicators of decompensation," it reads. "When ill, Mr. Donnelly has no insight into his deterioration. He requires significant supervision to ensure he does not cause further harm to the public."

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Eby said he has so far received no explanation as to why Donnelly was apparently out alone last weekend.

"I still do not have the answer about how he was released, despite it being apparent that he presented a really significant danger to the public," the premier said.

With files from The Canadian Press