Review hearing for Merritt man not criminally responsible for deaths of three children

PORT COQUITLAM – A hearing is underway for a B.C. man who was found not criminally responsible for killing his three children.

Allan Schoenborn stabbed his daughter and then smothered his sons at their home in Merritt, B.C., in April 2008, leaving their bodies to be found by their mother.

He was later found to be not criminally responsible by reason of a mental disorder, and his admission to the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Port Coquitlam is up for a routine review.

Last year, the B.C. Review Board approved Schoenborn's request to be transferred to a hospital in Manitoba, but the province's criminal justice branch stepped in and blocked the transfer.

The case fuelled public outrage in 2011 after the review board recommended Schoenborn be allowed supervised day trips into the community, but Schoenborn later withdrew his request.

Schoenborn's case was cited by the federal government last year as it announced new restrictions designed to make it more difficult for "high-risk" mentally ill to gain freedom.