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Man accused of stabbing Burnaby couple in Vancouver's Chinatown makes court appearance

Blair Evan Donnelly, 64, has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault in connection with a triple stabbing at the Light Up Chinatown! festival Sunday.
vancouver provincial court criminal
A court ban is in place prohibiting publication of any information presented at Blair Evan Donnelly's bail hearings.

A man accused of stabbing a Burnaby couple in Chinatown Sunday made his first appearance in Vancouver provincial court Friday.

Blair Evan Donnelly, 64, has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault in connection with a triple stabbing at the Light Up Chinatown! festival at about 6 p.m.

Among the victims was a Burnaby couple in their 60s, who sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.

The other victim was a woman in her 20s from Vancouver.

Donnelly was taken into custody nearby, police said.

He appeared briefly by video in Vancouver provincial court Friday morning and has been remanded in custody until his next appearance on Sept. 27.

A court ban is in place prohibiting publication of any information presented at Donnelly's bail hearings.

At the time of the stabbing, Donnelly was on an unescorted day pass from a Metro Vancouver forensic psychiatric facility, according to police.

He was originally in care after being found not criminally responsible for the 2006 stabbing of his 16-year-old daughter. 

As recently as April, the B.C. Review Board ruled Donnelly remained a “significant” threat to public safety, according to a report leaked to media.

B.C. Premier David Eby announced Thursday that former Abbotsford police chief Bob Rich has been hired to review how Donnelly came to be released from the psychiatric facility before the stabbing.

With files from Canadian Press

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