Ex-wife of Allan Schoenborn has died, family spokesperson says

From left, Kaitlynne Schoenborn, 10, Max Schoenborn, 8, and Cordon Schoenborn, 5, are shown in a composite image made from pictures at the memorial wall in Merritt, B.C. on Thursday, April 10, 2008. (Terry Theodore / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Victims' advocate Darcie Clarke has died, more than a decade after her ex-husband Allan Schoenborn killed their three children during a psychotic episode.

Family spokesperson Dave Teixeira confirmed the sad news on Friday, issuing a brief statement and asking for privacy on behalf of Clarke's loved ones.

"Darcie had no peace over the last 11 years. Her family was tormented by an evil man," Teixeira said on Twitter. "My hope is Darcie's legacy will be we as a society care more for women, children (and) victims of crime than a murderer."

Teixeira also slammed the criminal justice system and the B.C. Review Board process, which Clark has blamed for keeping a dark cloud hanging over her life for years. She said the possibility of Schoenborn being let into the community on escorted outing in particular left her full of dread.

Clarke was the one who discovered the bodies of their three children – 10-year-old Kaitlin, eight-year-old Max and five-year-old Cordon – back in April 2008.

"I hope Darcie's broken heart can now rest in peace," Teixeira said.

The spokesperson did not comment on the cause or circumstances of her death.

During trial, Schoenborn said he believed he was saving the kids from a life of sexual and physical abuse. He was found not criminally responsible because of a mental disorder, and remains a patient at Colony Farms Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam.

In 2017, the B.C. Review Board ruled Schoenborn could be allowed on escorted outings at the discretion of the hospital's director, but he has yet to actually leave the facility.

At his latest review hearing, the board said Schoenborn remains a "significant threat" to the public.