Eby says Canada’s not-criminally-responsible system re-victimizes families

British Columbia Premier David Eby says the provisions in the Criminal Code related to people found not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder have resulted in a system that re-victimizes the family of three murdered children.

Eby says the system is not working and that families need more support than what they are getting under the current federal regime.

The premiers comments come days after the British Columbia Review Board granted Allan Schoenborn, also now known as Ken John Johnson, a conditional discharge.

Schoenborn was found not criminally responsible for the first-degree murders of his three children — five-year-old Cordon, eight-year-old Max, and 10-year-old Kaitlynne — at their Merritt, B.C., home in 2008.

Under the board’s ruling, Schoenborn will report to a psychiatric clinic and live under supervision, but he must return to the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam, B.C., if ordered to do so.

Eby says he will be contacting the federal government about his concerns with the process. 

“It is, I think, disturbing to many British Columbians that Mr. Schoenborn is going to be able to essentially walk free right now and it’s a troubling outcome for a deeply disturbing case and I think evidence that this system needs a serious look from the federal government.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2026

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