Man found not criminally responsible for 2023 Chinatown festival stabbings

The man accused of stabbing three people at a Vancouver Chinatown festival two years ago has been found not criminally responsible.

The man accused of stabbing three people at a festival in Vancouver’s Chinatown in September 2023 has been found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.

Blair Donnelly, 66, pleaded not guilty to three counts of aggravated assault, but did not dispute that he carried out the attacks.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Donnelly was on a half-day, unescorted leave from the B.C. Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Port Coquitlam, where he has been held since 2008 after being found not criminally responsible for killing his teenage daughter.

Court heard Donnelly rode his e-bike to a Home Depot in Coquitlam, where he bought a chisel before heading to downtown Vancouver, where the Light Up Chinatown festival was underway.

During his testimony, Donnelly said he chose a chisel rather than a sharper object because he believed God wanted him to hurt someone, but not kill them.

He went on to stab two women and a man before fleeing the scene.

The case centred on whether Donnelly was capable of knowing his actions were wrong at the time of the attack.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Eric Gottardi said Friday that the court doesn’t convict people of crimes for being sick.

The trial heard that Donnelly had asked the Holy Spirit for a sign not to carry out the stabbings, but when he didn’t get one, he continued because he “wanted to obey God.”

Gottardi said Donnelly lacked the ability to rationally choose to commit the crime.

“I find Mr. Donnelly has established on a balance of probability that he was suffering a mental illness at the time that rendered him incapable of knowing his actions were morally wrong,” Gottardi said.

During the trial, defence lawyer Glen Orris said his client was overwhelmed and convinced that God wanted him to stab people.

Crown counsel Mark Myhre argued Donnelly was capable of knowing his actions were wrong.

The court heard Donnelly has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, and a psychiatrist who testified in September said his more recent diagnosis was “schizoaffective disorder bipolar type,” which manifests as religious delusions.

The attack drew public outrage and national attention after Premier David Eby said he was “white-hot angry” to learn Donnelly had been on leave from the hospital at the time.

Speaking to reporters after Friday’s verdict, Orris said that publicity and anger were reasons the defence chose a judge-alone trial instead of a jury.

Donnelly will remain at the B.C. Forensic Psychiatric Hospital. His case has been referred to the B.C. Review Board, which will determine his status within 90 days.

With files from the Canadian Press