Man accused of stabbing 3 people at Vancouver Chinatown festival pleads not guilty
A man accused of stabbing three individuals of Asian descent at a Vancouver Chinatown festival last year has pleaded not guilty.
Key points:
- Blair Evan Donnelly, 64, pleaded not guilty to three counts of aggravated assault.
- Donnelly was apprehended shortly after he was implicated in the triple stabbing incident during the “Light Up Chinatown!” festival on Sept. 10, 2023. A married couple aged in their 60s and a woman in her 20s sustained “serious but non-life-threatening” injuries from the attack.
Catch up:
- Donnelly, who has a history of violence, was on a day pass from a forensic psychiatric institution at the time of the attack. Records show that in 2008, he was admitted to the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital after being charged but found not criminally responsible for the death of his 16-year-old daughter in 2006.
- In 2009, he stabbed a friend while on a day pass, resulting in a conviction for assault with a weapon. In 2017, another incident occurred when he attacked a fellow patient with a butter knife shortly after returning from leave.
The details:
- At the arraignment hearing on April 10, it was revealed that Donnelly elected a trial by provincial court judge, with expectations of a two-week trial. While Donnelly has yet to have a bail hearing, he remains in custody at the psychiatric hospital.
- In a leaked report, the B.C. Review Board reportedly deemed Donnelly a “significant” threat to public safety.
- Following the incident, B.C. Premier David Eby appointed former Abbotsford Police Chief Bob Rich to review why Donnelly was released from the psychiatric facility despite the assessment.
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