Hospital director allowed to grant 28-day leaves for Allan Schoenborn

The British Columbia Review Board has granted the director of a psychiatric hospital the discretion to allow up to 28 days of overnight leave for a man who was found not criminally responsible in the killings of his three children in 2008.

Allan Schoenborn has been held at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam since 2010 after killing his 10-year-old daughter and two sons, aged five and eight.

He was diagnosed with delusional disorder and told his B.C. Supreme Court trial he killed his children to protect them from an imagined threat of sexual abuse.

Dr. Robert Lacroix, a psychiatrist at the hospital, told the review board during an annual hearing this month that Schoenborn's progress in treatment has been positive and his psychotic illness is in "complete remission" with a medication he takes monthly.

The board's decision allows the hospital director to grant the 54-year-old unescorted leave from the hospital depending on assessments of his mental condition and the risk he poses, including overnight stays for up to 28 days.

It says Schoenborn must not possess any weapons or use any non-approved drugs or alcohol and he must not have contact with the family members of the victims.

The board's reasons for its decision say Schoenborn remains a threat to public safety and the panel agreed that a custody order is necessary. There is no plan in place right now that would allow him to live outside the hospital, it says.

Lacroix told the review board Schoenborn would need to have housing and employment lined up if he were granted overnight leave in the community, and he would continue individual counselling and other supportive services.

Schoenborn's lawyer told the board his client has "done nothing but keep a generally positive trajectory" since being granted some level of leave, and giving the director the ability to approve overnight leave wouldn't necessarily mean he would receive it.

The central issue was "about working toward potentially that goal, down the road, at the discretion of the director," Rishi Gill said.

During the hearing, held via video conference, Schoenborn told the three-member panel that his greatest fear is being recognized in public, testifying that he would "tuck tail and run" away from any altercation and return to the hospital. He also acknowledged that if he were "jumped" he would likely protect himself, the decision says.

The review board's reasons say Schoenborn has not consumed substances since being admitted to the hospital and the symptoms of his delusional disorder have been in remission for "many years."

"The primary focus of risk assessment and treatment relates to underlying personality features that include anger management issues," it says.

Lacroix testified that Schoenborn has insight into his anger issues and a "reasonable retrospective view of his actions in these situations," a finding the panel accepted.

The panel heard that Schoenborn had been on about a dozen outings with his mother last year and several unescorted outings to destinations including a park, restaurant and mall, with no concerns reported.

Crown lawyer Michelle Booker had argued that a "handful" of unescorted day leaves were a "good first start," but it wasn't sufficient for the panel to assess whether he might be ready for overnight leaves.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2022.