Crown takes first step toward high risk designation for dad who killed 3 kids

NEW WESTMINSTER – Lawyers for British Columbia's Criminal Justice Branch are in court this afternoon applying to have child killer Allan Schoenborn declared a "high-risk accused."

A spokesman for Darcie Clark, Schoenborn's estranged wife and mother of the three victims, says the family is elated by the application.

Dave Teixeira says the goal is to have a decision before next May, when Schoenborn's next B.C. Review Board hearing is scheduled.

If successful, the high-risk designation would limit Schoenborn to a psychiatric facility, only allowing him to leave for medical reasons.

Schoenborn has been in custody since 2008 and the review board, which considers the status of patients held in mental hospitals, granted him escorted community outings in May.

He was found not criminally responsible for the April 2008 stabbing of his 10-year-old daughter and the smothering deaths of his two sons in their Merritt home.