Overview

• Blair Donnelly pleaded not guilty to three counts of aggravated assault in the Sept. 10, 2023 Light Up Chinatown stabbings.
• Crown prosecutor Mark Myhre said Donnelly admitted to the attacks and presented surveillance and interview videos before closing the Crown's case on day one.
• Video shown in court depicts Donnelly buying a wood chisel at Home Depot, taking the SkyTrain to the festival, stabbing two women in the back and a man in the forearm, then fleeing to East Hastings where he was arrested.
• Donnelly was on unescorted day leave from the B.C. Forensic Psychiatric Hospital for a bike ride at the time of the incident.
• The judge-alone trial in B.C. Supreme Court is slated to run about three weeks, with the defence expected to begin presenting its case Tuesday; a prior report noted 99 unescorted releases and past violent incidents that fueled public scrutiny.