Child killer Allan Schoenborn’s lawyer quits during review board hearing

A BC Review Board hearing for convicted child killer Allan Schoenborn had to unexpectedly adjourn Wednesday after the man’s lawyer quit.

The hearing was being held to decide whether Schoenborn should be given more freedom from the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam.

Schoenborn has been incarcerated at the facility since 2010, after he was found not criminally responsible for killing his three children in Merritt.

There were some tense moments during Wednesday’s hearing culminating in Schoenborn’s lawyer saying he couldn’t represent his client any longer after some apparent conflicts with the board’s chair.

“What I will say is that I didn’t feel that I was going to be able to effectively assist my client, Mr. Schoenborn, and I’ve been his lawyer in one form or another since these events occurred, both in the superior courts, in front of tribunals, on the mental health side, and … how the hearing progressed was certainly nothing that I have experienced in the 16 years that I have been dealing with this case,” Schoenborn’s lawyer, Rishi Gill, told CityNews Wednesday.

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“I felt that, for a variety of reasons, which I can’t really get into, it would not be helpful for Mr. Schoenborn for me to stay involved for this particular proceeding. I will still act as his counsel for other matters as they come up but this particular proceeding, between this particular board, it will not be appropriate for me to remain on.”

Schoenborn told the review board he wanted to represent himself, but the board has expressed some concerns about that decision.

Instead of continuing the hearing, members decided to adjourn until Schoenborn can find a new lawyer, which they’ve instructed him to do within a week.

In the past, he has been allowed unescorted overnight visits at the hospital director’s discretion for periods of up to 28 days.

Victims’ advocate calls hearing ‘unprecedented’

In an interview with CityNews, Dave Teixeira, a spokesperson for the victims’ family, called the hearing delay “ridiculous” adding he’d like to see it postponed until next year.

Teixeira cited the case of Blair Evan Donnelly as an example of what can happen when people like Schoenborn are allowed into communities unsupervised.

Donnelly was out on an unsupervised day pass from the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam when he allegedly stabbed three people in Vancouver’s Chinatown.

Days later, the public found out that the 64-year-old had been deemed a “significant threat” by the BC Review Board panel.

In 2008, Donnelly was found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder in the 2006 killing of his daughter. In 2009, the review board noted he stabbed another individual while on a day pass. In this case, he was found criminally responsible.

Wednesday’s hearing was another sign to Teixeira that Schoenborn is not ready to have his leave privileges extended.

“Alan Schoenborn revealed that he’s changed his name but doesn’t want anyone to know it. And there’s an application before the BC Review Board to determine whether or not his new name will be shared,” he explained.

“We had a profanity-filled outburst from him when it was suggested that he would be a danger to children. We then had a recess. We had his lawyer walk out of the hearing, thus delaying it. “

However, Teixeira also says the hearing was “unprecedented,” and the review board’s straightforward actions were a stark contrast to what he’s seen from boards of the past.

“Today, we saw a review board that actually mentioned the victims and said the victims’ families are here today and the hearing should continue,” he said.

“This review board was very much speaking to the facts.”

Meanwhile, regardless of what a person’s opinion may be on the case, Gill notes our society is still “bound by the rule of law.”

“The way we treat the most marginalized people in society is a very, very good indication of the degree civilization, the degree of lawfulness that we have. And in this case, I am certainly not excusing anything or making justifications for anything in the past on this matter. Mr. Schoenborn committed a horrible act but he was also not of sound mind when that happened, he was clinically mentally ill. And I do feel that, as someone who’s been involved in this case from the outset … is that there’s been an enormous amount of attention put on this case, and rightly so. But I also would ask people to please consider being temperate and rational in how we deal with this matter. That doesn’t mean that we have to be overly liberal or we have to give so-called rights to so-called undeserving people, it just means there has to be a modicum of reason in how we deal with matters like this,” he said.

Moments before the hearing ended, Schoenborn asked if he could have longer than a week to find his new lawyer, but the board chair declined, saying it has already been two years since the man’s last review.

Schoenborn will remain under his current privileges until the hearing reconvenes.

-With files from Kate Walker