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The now-52-year-old was found not criminally responsible because of a mental disorder on three counts of first-degree murder on Feb. 22, 2010, and confined indefinitely under the care of the board subject to yearly review.

He claimed he killed his kids — Kaitlynne, 10, Max, 8, and Corden, 5, — because he believed they were being sexually abused and he wanted to save them from the crushing humiliation. Prosecutors insisted he was out for revenge on his wife, Darcie Clarke, who died of heart issues May 30 last year.

Dave Teixeira, a spokesman for the Clarke family, said they weren’t surprised by the ruling.

“The B.C. Review Board has no regard for public safety and the well-being of victims of crime in the province — this highlights that fact,” he said. “This is a man who is more concerned with getting out and getting away than in getting healthy. The review board is complicit in allowing him to do this. It’s very disappointing but not unexpected.”

Schoenborn has been incarcerated since his arrest, but at his hearing last year the board agreed he should be permitted escorted community access at the director’s discretion — and he has had a score of trips without incident.

His doctors told the panel he should remain detained for another year but was ready to be considered for unescorted community access — recreational activities and the like — to prepare him for ultimate release.

Born in Winnipeg, the second of three kids, Schoenborn developed alcohol and drug addictions early in life and began exhibiting signs of mental illness at age 19. After dropping out of high school in Grade 10, his life became a series of drunk-driving incidents and petty crime until he met his wife in 1993.