Darcie Clarke, the mother of three children murdered by their father, Allan Schoenborn, is moving out of the Tri-Cities after the B.C. Review Board granted her ex-husband restricted day trips into the community.
Clarke has been living in Coquitlam with her cousin, Stacy Galt, but now fears for her safety and that of her family. Last week's decision allows Schoenborn, who currently resides at the Forensic Psychiatric Institution in Coquitlam, to make supervised trips, often with groups of other patients, outside the facility.
"We are moving," Galt told The Tri-City News today. "[Clarke] fears for her safety, she fears for her mother's safety and she fears for my safety because she is living with me. He holds grudges and he is a shifty, manipulative man."
During his hearing last week, Schoenborn told a panel of doctors and psychiatrists that he wants to be able to go for coffee at the mall or visit community facilities.
Galt said that since the 2008 murders of her three children, Clarke has rarely ventured outside of their apartment but she occasionally enjoys going to Starbucks and recently purchased a city recreation pass so she could go to the pool.
"She can't do that now," Galt said. "She is just so frightened that she is going to run into him."
Galt said she and her cousin were relieved to hear news this week that the attorney general would review the Schoenborn decision but added they are both still very concerned.
The city of Coquitlam has also weighed in with its concerns. On Wednesday, council unanimously passed a motion calling for changes to the review board system and Port Coquitlam council has also sent a letter to the province outlining its concerns.
The same day, review board chair Bernd Walter told radio station CKNW the board didn't know Clarke was living in Coquitlam.
Last week, Walter said Schoenborn no longer showed any obvious symptoms and has been good at taking his medication and following the rules of the hospital. He added that the accused has even participated in several treatment programs.
Walter told The Tri-City News last week he was confident Schoenborn can make day trips outside the facility without endangering the public and that safety is the highest consideration in the board's decision.
"We have experience that says if there is any doubt at all, the accused would not be able to exercise this kind of privilege," he said. "The benefit of the doubt is always given to public safety."
Schoenborn was found not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder for killing his three children in Merritt in 2008. The emaciated man was arrested in the hills outside the community after a 10-day manhunt.
The finding means that Schoenborn will never spend time in jail; instead, his sentence is being carried out in the low-security Hawthorne House at the Forensic Psychiatric Institution.
The review board granted Schoenborn's request this year after a similar request last year found him still too volatile to be allowed access to the community.
gmckenna@tricitynews.com
