B.C. regional district won’t pay for cleanup of demolished murder site

MERRITT, B.C. – A British Columbia regional district won’t pay to clean up the remains of a trailer demolished seven years after a man murdered his three children inside.

The Merritt, B.C., home where Allan Schoenborn stabbed his daughter and smothered his two sons has served as a loathsome reminder to the city since the killings in 2008.

The mobile home was torn down two months ago following a four-year struggle between the City of Merritt and the trailer’s owners.

Afterwards, Wayne and Lynette Pyett asked the Thompson-Nicola Regional District to absorb a portion of the more than $10,000 in disposal fees they had to pay.

In a letter to the regional district, the Pyetts say the final three loads consisted of waterlogged soil as it was raining on the final day of demolition, and say it was not their intention to be charged for wet, heavy dirt.

But the regional district’s board rejected the request, and Merritt Mayor Neil Menard said that the board wouldn’t be discussing the issue if the Pyetts had done the work in a timely fashion and on a sunny day.

The Pyetts say approximately 70 tons of debris was removed in 13 truckloads from the Merritt trailer park, and they now must invest in $3,000 of topsoil and landscaping to restore the lot. (Kamloops This Week)