Man who killed daughter deemed not criminally responsible again

A 66-year-old man, previously found not criminally responsible for killing his daughter, stabbing a friend, and attacking a psychiatric patient, has again been deemed unfit for criminal prosecution.

Source: Rawpixel

A 66-year-old man, previously found not criminally responsible for killing his daughter, stabbing a friend, and attacking a psychiatric patient, has again been deemed unfit for criminal prosecution. This time, it’s for a 2023 stabbing spree at Vancouver’s Light Up Chinatown festival.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Eric Gottardi ruled Friday that Blair Evan Donnelly is not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder after stabbing three strangers at the festival on September 10, 2023.

During his most recent trial, the court heard Donnelly was on an unescorted leave from his psychiatric hospital the day of the attack. He was supposed to go for a bike ride and coffee but instead went to Home Depot, where he bought a wood chisel. He used it to attack three festivalgoers later that day after “being told to do so by God.”

The stabbings garnered national attention. B.C. Premier David Eby said he was “white-hot angry” to discover Donnelly was on leave from the hospital.

“I am so angry. I am white-hot angry that this person was released unaccompanied into the community to have a devastating impact on all of the hard work of these community members,” Eby told the media two days after the attack.

Prior to Friday’s ruling, Donnelly was previously found not criminally responsible due to mental disorder for the stabbing murder of his 16-year-old daughter, Stephanie Joy Donnelly, in Kitimat, B.C., and another stabbing attack involving a butter knife on a fellow psychiatric patient.

For his latest actions, Donnelly will remain at the B.C. Forensic Psychiatric Hospital, with his case now sent to the B.C. Review Board.

The board decides the fate of individuals deemed not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder, determining whether they should be detained in a hospital, discharged conditionally, or released entirely.

Panels typically include a judge, a psychiatrist, and a public member with legal or mental health expertise. They conduct regular review hearings — at least once a year — to assess the person’s mental state and risk to public safety.

The same board made a determination in April 2023, months before the Chinatown stabbing, that Donnelly still presented a “significant threat to public safety,” as defined by the Criminal Code.

A determination on Donnelly’s newest case is expected within the next 90 days.