Merritt killer granted transfer

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Allan Dwayne Schoenborn is shown in an undated RCMP handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO BC RCMP

6 p.m.: Clean-shaven and quiet, a far cry from the wild-eyed child killer who yelled at his victims' mother at his murder trial, Allan Schoenborn asked a B.C. Review Board panel Friday to recommend his transfer from British Columbia to a psychiatric hospital in Manitoba, where his mother and other family members would be able to visit him.

In a hearing that took less than half an hour, the man found not criminally responsible due to mental disorder of the slayings of his three children did not seek any passes to leave the secure hospital.

"My family is in Winnipeg. I was born and raised in Winnipeg. It's the right place to be," Schoenborn told the three-members of the review board panel.

His mother has come from Manitoba to visit him at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in suburban Port Coquitlam several times, he said.

"She loves me and I love her," he told the panel members.

"Do you have any support here in B.C.?" asked Barry Long, chairman of the panel.

"No," answered Schoenborn, who appeared dressed in jeans and a denim shirt.

"If you go to the hospital in Manitoba, do you think your family will go and visit you there?" Long asked.

"Yes, definitely," Schoenborn said.

A few hours later, the panel issued a decision that recommended the transfer. The decision is only the first of many steps towards a possible transfer. The final decision will be made by the attorneys general of both provinces, a spokesman for the B.C. Crown said Friday.

Few cases in the recent annals of Canadian justice have sparked as much collective public outrage as the horrific deaths of 10-year-old Kaitlynne, eight-year-old Max and five-year-old Cordon.

10 a.m.: Child killer Allan Schoenborn agrees he should remain in psychiatric custody.

During a hearing in Port Coquitlam today, Schoenborn instead asked to be transferred to a similar facility in Selkirk, Man.

Schoenborn says his mother and other family members live in Manitoba and he has no support in BC to help him reintegrate into the community.

The BC Review Board panel reserved its decision until later today or Monday on whether to agree to the transfer.

9:40 a.m.: Child killer Allan Schoenborn will not be released from a psychiatric hospital in Port Coquitlam, and instead, has asked for a transfer to a similar institution in Selkirk, Man.

More to come.

7 a.m.: Allan Schoenborn, the man found not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder for killing his three children in their Merritt home, is scheduled to have his annual review today by the BC Review Board.

Schoenborn's case prompted reforms to the laws for mentally ill offenders announced last week by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Officials believe his notoriety prompted an attack from another inmate at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital following his last review hearing two years ago.

Schoenborn postponed his hearing last year.

Three years after 10-year-old Kaitlynne, eight-year-old Max and five-year-old Cordon were found dead, Schoenborn was granted supervised leave.

He withdrew the request after learning the children's mother lived nearby.