Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
National

Ex-B.C. police chief to investigate release of suspect before Chinatown stabbing

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 14 Sep, 2023 04:20 PM
  • Ex-B.C. police chief to investigate release of suspect before Chinatown stabbing

Former Abbotsford police chief Bob Rich has been appointed to look into the release of a man from British Columbia's psychiatric hospital before the man allegedly stabbed three people in Vancouver's Chinatown. 

Premier David Eby said Thursday that he has read the BC Review Board report on the accused and wants Rich to determine how the man could have been released, despite being a "really significant danger to the public." 

"At the end of the day, the core question of how a violent, psychotic individual was released into the community to attack innocent people is the question that needs to be answered," he said during a news conference on a separate issue in Langley, B.C. 

Sixty-four-year-old Blair Donnelly has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault and remains in custody after Sunday's attack at the Light Up Chinatown! festival. 

Donnelly stabbed his teenage daughter Stephanie to death in 2006. He was found not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder and sent to B.C.'s Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam.

Eby said the review board report clearly concluded the man was a significant risk and shouldn't be let out, but somehow between that decision and the attack in Chinatown, he was given day release from the facility.  

The premier said he wants Rich to also find out if there are other people under similar circumstances who may also be out on day passes from the hospital. 

"Which is a very disturbing question to ask, but a necessary one to ask, given the unthinkable happened in this case already."

A copy of the review board decision was leaked to media, including CHEK News and CityNews. It says Donnelly remained a “significant threat” to the public.

The decision says that since being originally detained at the hospital, Donnelly had stabbed a friend while on day release in 2009 after they consumed cocaine together for several hours. He was convicted of assault.

Then, in 2017, it says Donnelly attacked a fellow patient at the hospital with a butter knife and was found not criminally responsible for the assault.

The April 2023 decision posted online by CHEK says Donnelly required “significant supervision to ensure he does not cause further harm to the public.”

However, the decision added that "reintegration" of Donnelly "could reasonably occur" within eight months of the decision.

Eby said Rich will also have the opportunity to look at why the public didn't have the information about the review board's case, which he said is also troubling. 

"But it, to be honest, pales in comparison to how disturbed I am that this man was released and unaccompanied and in our community." 

The premier said he has confidence in Rich's ability, and the terms of reference for the work is being sorted out now and they'll ensure he has the authority and the staff to "dig into this."

The review board said in an email that parties to the April decision were being given until Friday to apply for it to be withheld from the media.

 

MORE National ARTICLES

B.C. Mountie charged with dangerous driving causing bodily harm

B.C. Mountie charged with dangerous driving causing bodily harm
The BC Prosecution Service says the charge for Cst. Robby Pawar stems from an incident that is alleged to have happened on Dec. 3, 2021, in Delta, B.C. The Mountie's first appearance is scheduled to take place on August 2, 2023 in Surrey Provincial Court.

B.C. Mountie charged with dangerous driving causing bodily harm

Union and employers receive mediator's terms to end B.C. port strike, source says

Union and employers receive mediator's terms to end B.C. port strike, source says
The delivery of the terms comes after federal Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan late Tuesday instructed the mediator to send him the terms within 24 hours so he could forward them to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada and the B.C. Maritime Employers Association.

Union and employers receive mediator's terms to end B.C. port strike, source says

Four years after passage of law on abandoned boats, only two fines have been levied

Four years after passage of law on abandoned boats, only two fines have been levied
The government introduced the Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act in 2017. It passed in February 2019 and took effect that July. It made it illegal to abandon a boat in Canada and gives the government the power to go after boat owners when their vessels are wrecked or left behind, including fines up to $1 million.

Four years after passage of law on abandoned boats, only two fines have been levied

High speed chase on Surrey's Hwy 99

High speed chase on Surrey's Hwy 99
Police say it started just after nine last night when the driver of the C-L-S-550 fled the traffic stop, and the vehicle was located a short time later on Highway 99 south of the Serpentine River overpass. The investigation closed the highway for hours, but traffic is now moving again.   

High speed chase on Surrey's Hwy 99

Zelenskyy declares NATO summit victory for Ukraine as Canada, allies pledge more help

Zelenskyy declares NATO summit victory for Ukraine as Canada, allies pledge more help
As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other NATO leaders wrapped up their two-day summit Wednesday, they bid farewell to a very different version of Volodymyr Zelenskyy than the one they had met the day before. Ukraine's president declared the meetings a success, even though he left without the thing he had most vehemently argued for: a quick invitation for his country to join the alliance.

Zelenskyy declares NATO summit victory for Ukraine as Canada, allies pledge more help

More evacuations, alerts, reflect difficult wildfire season in B.C., Yukon

More evacuations, alerts, reflect difficult wildfire season in B.C., Yukon
At least 12 new evacuation orders or alerts have been issued over the last day in British Columbia as lightning storms and drought conditions add to the challenge of fighting hundreds of wildfires. The BC Wildfire Service says just over two-thirds of the province's roughly 330 fires are raging in those two centres.

More evacuations, alerts, reflect difficult wildfire season in B.C., Yukon