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Posted by Pope Reverend I, BV on 1/25/2008, 12:23 pm
Father says God told him to kill his daughter
Former pastor Blair Donnelly, 48, stabbed his daughter, Stephanie, 16, to death in the family home
By David Carrigg
The Province
Friday, January 25, 2008
The Province
A hush has fallen over Kitimat after a local dad was deemed not criminally responsible for stabbing his teenage daughter to death in the family home.
"No one's talking about it - it's just too shocking, too horrific. A child is the most precious thing you have," said Kitimat Coun. Joanne Monaghan Thursday night.
Monaghan was reacting to a ruling by Supreme Court Judge Harvey Groberman on Wednesday that Blair Donnelly, 48, was in a psychotic state when he stabbed his daughter Stephanie, 16, to death.
Donnelly, a former pulp-mill worker and pastor, is being sent to a forensic psychiatric unit in Port Coquitlam. The psychiatric review board has 45 days to decide what will happen to him next.
According to a statement of facts agreed on by the Crown and the defence, on the morning of Nov. 23, 2006, Donnelly began praying and studying the Bible, acting out of sorts and interpreting events of the morning as a message from God that he needed to kill his wife.
He walked around the home in his wife's presence with a knife hidden inside his jacket. Owing to his strange behaviour, his wife asked his pastor to come to their home, and they prayed together, asking for guidance.
Donnelly then had a series of strange encounters with friends.
When he returned home that night, he found his daughter at the computer and took it as a sign that God wanted him to kill her. If he didn't, he thought he would have to kill his entire family.
Donnelly's wife, Patricia, returned home to find Stephanie dead in the living room. Donnelly was found a few hours later praying in front of the Mountainview Alliance Church. He had blood on his hands.
According to a CBC report from the trial, Dr. Shabehram Lohrasbe testified that Donnelly had separated himself from reality when he stabbed Stephanie.
Lohrasbe attributed the attack to a mental disorder that showed up in Donnelly about 12 years ago.
Defence lawyer Paul Pakenham told CBC News "this is a very, very unique situation. Given the severity of Mr. Donnelly's mental illness, he will require prolonged treatment, and that will be in a secure institution.
"They were a model Canadian family up to the point of this incident. His conduct that evening can only be explained by aberrant behaviour from a mental disorder."
A blogger named Brian Larnder of the Yukon wrote yesterday that he knew Donnelly in Kitimat and that Donnelly told him he saw demons.
Donnelly, he said, had to leave his ministry because he was "battling a few demons. Not demons in the metaphorical sense - real demons. Blair claimed that he was doing such special work for the Lord that he had been under constant satanic attack. He told us this with a straight face, and the weird part is that nobody thought he was crazy. I wonder if the whole thing could have been avoided. How could we not have seen? The thought of this terrible event will haunt me for the rest of my life."
Monaghan said Stephanie was an accomplished figure skater who coached local kids and was loved deeply by her community.
Stephanie's mom sold the home shortly after the killing and moved with Stephanie's sister to Alberta.
dcarrigg@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Province 2008
Yup, definitely the way to go with stuff like this.
-- Religious Fanatics Are INSANE...
And...
-- They should be LOCKED UP for the Safety of Society!
Identify the Zealots in YOUR Neighbourhood and have them Isolated EARLY!!
-PRev1- 
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