Triple stabbing in Chinatown puts spotlight on 'not criminally responsible' release process

Outrage over the triple stabbing in Vancouver's Chinatown has many asking how inmates housed in the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital (FPH) in Coquitlam are judged to be safe for release into the community.

Blair EvanDonnelly was on a day pass from the facility on Sunday when he allegedly stabbed a couple in their 60s and a woman in her early 20s at the Light Up Chinatown festival.

In 2008, Donnelly was put into the custody of B.C.'s Forensic Psychiatric Services, which oversees the FPH, after being found not criminally responsible because of a mental disorder (NCRMD) for the gruesome stabbing death of his 16-year-old daughter. While out on unescorted leave in 2009, he stabbed a friend.

B.C. Premier David Eby was among the many who expressed outrage and astonishment that Donnelly was deemed fit for release and has vowed to look into it.

Vancouver Coun. Mike Klassen was more pointed in his criticism, questioning the system governing inmates who are certified mentally unfit.

"This being not criminally responsible is a twist of our justice system that I don't fully understand, but it allows people like [Donnelly] to roam the streets, and we are paying the consequences," Klassen told CBC's The Early Edition. "They have to be able to figure out some better way of managing people like this in the community."

WATCH | Mike Klassen says suspect should have been supervised:

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Coun. Mike Klassen says the suspect should have been supervised while out on a day pass from a psychiatric hospital.

Not everyone feels the same sense of panic. Speaking to CBC News Network, Vancouver criminal defence lawyer Rishi Gill criticized Eby's reaction as political grandstanding.

"One case no matter how tragic and how bad the facts are does not make a general trend, and it's not something we have to change the whole system over," said Gill.

"If one were to look at the entirety of the people released ... who were charged as being not criminally responsible by mental disorder ... you will see clearly that the number who are violent criminals is so low that it's almost insignificant," he said.

WATCH | Criminal defence lawyer Rishi Gill criticizes Eby onCBC News Network

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Rishi Gill says Premier David Eby was "pandering" to politics and the "growing hysteria" over crime.

Gill represented Allan Schoenborn, who was found not criminally responsible for killing his three children in 2008. Last year, the B.C. Review Board granted Schoenborn unescorted overnight visits away from the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital.

B.C.'s Forensic Psychiatric Services exists under the provincial health-care system and works in conjunction with the province's criminal justice system.

Individuals like Donnelly and Schoenborn, who are certified NCRMD, are held at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital for assessment and treatment. Their status is reviewed on an annual basis by the British Columbia Review Board (BCRB), an independent tribunal established under the Criminal Code of Canada.

According to its website, the BCRB has the responsibility "to protect public safety while also safeguarding the rights and freedoms of NCRMD persons who have committed an offence."

A BCRB panel is made up of three appointed people, one of whom is a psychiatrist. The panel considers testimony and clinical staff reports in assessing whether someone is a candidate for release and what kind of release to grant.

Donnelly was the subject of a BCRB hearing on April 13, 2023, and was subsequently granted leave from the hospital, including overnight stays in the community of up to 28 days, at the discretion of the director of the facility.

The decision document said Donnelly's leave was "for the purpose of assisting in his reintegration into the society."

Although the BCRB decision notes the 2008 court decision that found Donnelly NCRMD, it does not mention that he stabbed someone when previously released in 2009.