KAMLOOPS, B.C. -- A little girl found slain with her two younger brothers fought back but also pleaded for forgiveness as she was slashed to death, the killer -- her father -- told a B.C. court yesterday.
Allan Schoenborn sobbed in the witness box at his murder trial, where he described killing 10-year-old Kaitlynne, eight-year-old Cordon and five-year-old Max.
The 41-year-old vividly recounted how he swung a cleaver at Kaitlynne's neck.
He told the court that the girl fought back, putting her hand up and crying out "I'm sorry, Daddy, I'm sorry," and then pulled his hair as he slashed her neck.
"I told her to go to the white father," he testified.
The defence is arguing that Schoenborn should be found not criminally responsible for the killings due to mental disorder, but the Crown contends the killings were an act of revenge against the children's mother.
Schoenborn said he and the children had had a happy day flying kites together, but he became convinced that the trio was being molested. After putting them to bed, he said he realized he had no choice but to kill them all because no one -- including his wife who he had just phoned -- would help.
"Do I walk away if my kids are being molested? Do I look them in the eye again?" he asked through sobs.
The 41-year-old shook as he described how he killed Cordon next, suffocating the boy with a pillow.
"I thought it was going to be quick with Kaitlynne," he told the judge, who is hearing the case without a jury. But it wasn't quick, he said, so he suffocated the boys instead.
Schoenborn said he used a yellow plastic bag to suffocate Max, which was also tougher than he expected. "I told him to just go to that light."
He said he then wrote "forever young" on the walls with soy sauce, and "gone to Neverland" in blood on pillows because he wanted the message to be seen by his wife, and feared if he left a letter someone else would find it and take it.
