Convicted child killer Allan Schoenborn was back before the B.C. Review Board on Wednesday in his bid to gain limited access to the outside world but when it came time for him to answer questions he flatly refused.
"I don't want to answer any questions, it's my right," Schoenborn said from his seat at the large table. "All these questions were answered at the trial already."
It was a response that surprised the family of the children's mother, Darcie Clarke, who attend the hearings on her behalf, and one that left them relieved.
"I wonder why he won't answer questions," said Stacy Galt, Clarke's cousin. "It shows that he's right where he belongs and right where he should stay."
Michael Clarke, the uncle of the children Schoenborn brutally murdered in 2008, said he's glad that Schoenborn refused to answer questions because it would likely reduce his chances of being granted an escorted day pass.
Schoenborn has been at Coquitlam's Forensic Psychiatric Hospital since 2010, when he was found not criminally responsible for the murders of his three children 10-year-old Kaitlynne, eight-year-old Max and five-year-old Cordon in 2008 in Merritt. He fled after the killings and spent about two weeks hiding in the woods before he was caught.
He has consented to remain in the hospital but has requested escorted day passes.
The family is hoping Schoenborn will be deemed a high-risk offender under the Conservative government's Bill C-14, a new piece of legislation that can extend the amount of time between review years from one to three years.
Having to relive the heinous murders at these annual hearings, Galt and Clarke said, is extremely difficult to endure and doesn't give any of them a chance to heal. The children's mother, in particular, continues to struggle with guilt and lives in constant fear that Schoenborn will escape and try to harm her, Galt said.
"It's very disruptive to our family, rehashing this every 10 to 12 months," Michael Clarke added. "It's so disheartening."
At today's hearing Crown witness Dr. Anton Schweighofer testified that there are no tools specifically designed to assess a patient's risk of escape.
"There has not been a measure developed to assess that risk specifically," Schweighofer said.
He also stated that treating psychiatrists should not also be conducting risk assessments for a patient.
"Those roles are seen to be in a conflict," Schweighofer said.
Rebuttal witness Dr. Johan Brink, the vice president of medical affairs and research for Forensic Psychiatric Services in B.C. and clinical director of the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital, later stated there would be such a conflict in a private setting but in forensic institutions the dual role of the treating psychiatrist is expected and accepted.
But that wasn't the only conflict at hand, as Crown counsel Wendy Dawson elicited several objections from lawyers for Brink and Schoenborn, as well as the board chair.
In questioning Brink, Dawson focused on whether all of the appropriate risk assessment tools are being used at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital and the way certain reports are written and filed. She suggested much more detail is given to staff on how and when to use the Short Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START) tool, which was co-authored by Brink, than others that Dawson intimated could give a better understanding of Schoenborn's risk to the public.
In one of several objections to Dawson's line of questioning Deborah Lovett, the lawyer representing Brink, said such issues were irrelevant.
"I believe this is intended to be a wholesale attack on how the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital does business and this is not the place," Lovett said.
The board chair agreed, cautioning Dawson to keep her questions in line with the task at hand: determining whether Schoenborn should be allowed escorted day passes.
"I want to discuss the risk assessment principles because whether he gets social outings is dependent on how he does in those risk assessments," Dawson said. "So I want to ask questions of Dr. Brink about the quality control of the standards that are in place."
Board chair Barry Long said such questions were not helpful.
The hearing is set to continue on Thursday.
@spayneTC
