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Ex-Kelowna Rocket anxious for start of new NHL season — B1
Origins of venerated Jeep go back to Second World War — B4
THE OKANAGAN: CANADA’S FOUR-SEASON PLAYGROUND
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2017 WEATHER
MAINLY SUNNY. H: 28, L: 14
KELOWNADAILYCOURIER.CA
NHL PROS VISIT KELOWNA
JUSTICE
New heat record set for July, August
Kid-killer dad not high risk, judge rules
By RON SEYMOUR The Daily Courier
T
he calendar may have flipped forward to September, but it still looks and feels like midsummer in Kelowna. Predicted high temperatures will be close to record-breaking through the Labour Day long weekend as a months-long stretch of fine weather continues. “August and July were both the warmest on record in Kelowna,” Environment Canada meteorologist Alyssa Charbonneau said Thursday. The average temperature in August — a mix of daytime highs and overnight lows — was 22.2 C, compared to the normal of 19.1 C. As well as being the warmest August on record, it was also the driest. Just two-tenths of a millimetre of rain fell in the city, compared to the 32.1 mm the city usually receives in the month. The average temperature in July was 23.3 C, compared to the normal of 19.5 C. There was no rain at all in July.
Judge says threat posed by Allan Schoenborn, who killed his 3 children in Merritt, not enough to warrant designation By The Canadian Press
Continued on page A2 GARY NYLANDER/The Daily Courier
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WISE WORDS The two most powerful warriors are patience and time. — Leo Tolstoy
WISE COUNSEL
Jordin Tootoo of the Chicago Blackhawks holds his 16-month-old daughter, Siena, Thursday at Prospera Place in Kelowna. Close to 20 professional hockey players from the NHL, AHL and European teams took to the ice at the local rink to practise their skills in advance of the upcoming hockey season. The pro skaters will take to the ice again today. The 2017 NHL pre-season is slated to begin on Sept. 16 with the Vancouver Canucks visiting the Los Angeles Kings. The regular season starts on Oct. 4.
JUSTICE
Cop tells of arresting man accused in Bacon murder Officer describes Jason McBride as ‘respectful, easy to deal with’ By RON SEYMOUR The Daily Courier
Telephone 250-763-4323 www.doakshirreff.com
GAS WATCH Lowest price in the Kelowna area yesterday, via gasbuddy.com: 117.9 at several stations Kamloops: 108.4 Abbotsford: 119.9
$1.43 + GST
Accused killer Jason McBride kept company with a Lower Mainland gangster whose murder triggered a bloody feud between rival criminals, a Kelowna court heard Thursday. McBride was walking with Gurmit Dhak in Vancouver’s Gastown district one day in the summer of 2009, Vancouver Police Department Const. Gary Hair testified. Hair, who knew Dhak from childhood, said he had a short, “cordial conversation” with Dhak, but didn’t have any interaction with McBride. Dhak was murdered in 2010, and the Crown says his brother, Sukh Dhak, then told McBride, Michael Jones and Jujhar Khun-Khun to kill the people he believed to be responsible. McBride, Jones and Khun-Khun are on
trial for the August 2011 murder of Jonathan Bacon, and the attempted murder of three other people, outside the front of the Delta Grand hotel in downtown Kelowna. Under cross-examination, Hair acknowledged he had not kept any notes of his encounter with Dhak and McBride. He said it had occurred as one of many routine patrols he was then making through the Gastown entertainment district. Hair was also the officer who brought McBride back to B.C. on Feb. 22, 2013, from Toronto. McBride was living in a suite on the 27th floor of a highrise on Park Lawn Drive at the time. A police emergency response team had taken him into custody in the building’s basement, and Hair then arrested him and charged him with Bacon’s murder. Hair said McBride was co-operative with police, describing his manner as “good.” “He was respectful, easy to deal with,” Hair said of McBride. “Quiet, didn’t say a lot, but answered our questions.” Continued on page A2
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NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. — A man who underwent a psychotic break and murdered his three children as they lay asleep in their beds does not pose enough of a threat to the public to be labelled high risk, a British Columbia Supreme Court judge has found. Justice Martha Devlin said Thursday that while Allan Schoenborn continues to struggle with serious anger management issues, the deaths of his children relate to his mental-health problems, which have lessened since he started treatment while in custody following his conviction in 2010. “Without his mental disorder, Mr. Schoenborn would not have commitSchoenborn ted these abhorrent acts,” Devlin said. “Because his mental disorder is in remission, there is no basis on which to conclude that Mr. Schoenborn is highly likely to cause grave physical and psychological harm.” Devlin buttressed her ruling with references to Schoenborn’s current mental condition and the opinions of psychiatric experts, all of which she said point to the low likelihood of a relapse. A designation of high-risk accused would have barred Schoenborn from escorted outings into the community and would have extended the time between his review board hearings from one to three years. Schoenborn killed his 10-year-old daughter Kaitlynne and sons, Max and Cordon, aged eight and five, in the family’s home in Merritt in April 2008. He was eventually found not criminally responsible because of a mental disorder. The murder trial heard Schoenborn was experiencing psychosis at the time of the killings and believed he was saving his children from sexual and physical abuse, though no evidence suggested this was the case. Stacy Galt, a cousin of Schoenborn’s ex-wife, buried her face in her hands and sobbed as Devlin read her judgment. Speaking outside court, Galt questioned the decision. “If Allan won’t be high-risk designation, then who will qualify for high-risk designation?” she said, her hands and voice shaking as she cried. “Our fear is real. What he did was heinous. And he shouldn’t be able to walk the streets. He should be in care for the rest of his life.” Mike Clarke, Schoenborn’s former brother-in-law, read a statement written by his sister, Darcie Clarke. In it, she described the judge’s decision as disappointing and said the justice system had failed her and her family. Schoenborn’s lawyer, Rishi Gill, said the decision should not be considered a victory for his client. Schoenborn is being properly managed in a psychiatric facility, his psychosis is under control and he doesn’t fit the definition for a high-risk accused person, Gill said. “The question that was decided today was strictly about, ‘Is Mr. Schoenborn the type of risk that needs the high-risk designation?’” he said. Alisia Adams, a spokeswoman for the B.C. Prosecution Service, says the Crown will need some time before deciding whether to file an appeal.