Stephen Harper using Allan Schoenborn as pawn, says child killer's lawyer

The lawyer for Allan Schoenborn,aB.C.manfound not criminally responsible for killing his children, saysStephen Harper is wrongly using his client as a pawn in the finaldays of the federal election campaign.

• Crown seeks 'high risk accused' status for AllanSchoenborn
• AllanSchoenborn'slawyer: escorted day trips part of rehabilitation

Rishi Gill, who represents Schoenborn, expressed concernsTuesdayto a B.C. Supreme Court judge,about a radio advertisement that airedlast week in which the Conservative leader describes the man as acriminal.

Gill referenced the contradictory ad as he told the courtthe fact Harper has commented in an electionshows theunique importance of the case.

In the radio ad released last Thursday, Harper states that publicsafety is the Conservative party's primary concern but mentalhealth experts responded by saying that treatment, and notimprisonment, is the key.

'High risk accused'

Gill appearedin court only brieflyto schedule a hearing where he'll opposethe Crown's attempt to use a new Conservative law to have Schoenborn declared a "high risk accused."

The Crown made the application under the terms of Bill C-14, the Not Criminally Responsible ReformAct, which created the highrisk designation. That bill has since become law.

If the Crown is successful, itcould seethe mentally ill man indefinitely locked up.

Schoenbornhas been held in a psychiatric hospital for treatment since beingfound not criminally responsible for stabbing his 10-year-old daughter and smothering his eight and five-year-old sons in theirMerritt, B.C., home in April 2008.

Last May, the B.C. Review Board granted Schoenborn escorted day passes into the community after his treating psychiatrist testified that he had made progress in anger management.

Under the terms of BillC-14, an accused would have to wait up to three years between hearings before theboard, which grants release to people who have been handed verdicts of not criminally responsible.