Accused Vancouver Chinatown stabber loses ban application
Global News
A B.C. man accused of a triple stabbing in Vancouver's Chinatown has lost his bid to seal a document that identified him as a "significant threat" before he was released.
A British Columbia man accused of a triple stabbing in Vancouver’s Chinatown in September has lost his bid to seal a document that identified him as a “significant threat” before he was released from a forensic psychiatric hospital.
A B.C. Review Board panel said the presumption of the board’s open process overrides Blair Donnelly’s concerns that releasing the documents would invade his personal privacy or prejudice an upcoming trial.
News of Donnelly’s history led to significant public attention, including Premier David Eby calling him “a violent, psychotic individual” and questioning how he was allowed to be released.
Eby appointed former Abbotsford, B.C., police chief Bob Rich to investigate the circumstances.
Media outlets, including The Canadian Press, argued against the proposed publication ban in a submission, but the panel said it was not necessary to reference those arguments because Donnelly wasn’t able to show an exemption to the presumption of openness.
The review board said no one would be available for an interview regarding the policy on automatically providing reasons for the release of offenders from the psychiatric hospital.
Donnelly, 64, was found not criminally responsible for stabbing his teenage daughter to death in 2006 and was sent to B.C.’s Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam.
He was out of the hospital on an unescorted pass on Sept. 10 when he is accused of stabbing three people at a Vancouver community festival in Chinatown and was charged with aggravated assault.
