VANCOUVER - The slayings of three British Columbia children is a "horrific'' tragedy but it's too early to comment on the handling of the case, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said Friday.
Questions have abounded about the justice system's role in the case both before and after Kaitlynne, 10, Max, eight, and Cordon, five, were found dead in their home last Sunday.
Residents in the community want to know why they weren't told about the manhunt for Allan Schoenborn, the children's father and a suspect in their deaths, until a day after the killings.
There are also questions about why Schoenborn was released on bail after he was arrested at his children's school three days before the killings and charged with uttering threats.
"This has been a horrific and tragic event. Any time somebody is killed it's a tragedy. It is far more troubling when it is children who are killed,'' said Day, who was in Vancouver Friday for an unrelated announcement on homelessness.
"I will not make any comments at this point on anything to do with the investigation because should the perpetrator be apprehended, I don't want anything having been said in public that could in any way cause that person to escape the full force of the law.''
The B.C. Coroner's Service has announced a public inquest into the killings, though Day would not say whether the federal government will launch its own probe into the case.
When Schoenborn was arrested on April 3, charged with uttering threats against a student and principal at his daughter's school, he was released on $100 bail.
A police officer at the bail hearing opposed his release, but only because Schoenborn posed a flight risk, not because he posed a danger to his family or the public.
The chief judge of the provincial court, Hugh Stansfield, has defended the bail decision, saying there was nothing to suggest Schoenborn posed any risk to his wife or children.
A former justice of the peace in Merritt offered a similar assessment Friday.
"My understanding was that the gentleman was told not to show up at the school, and if he didn't show up at the school he met his condition,'' Harry Kroeker, who's now a Merritt city councillor, told a local radio station.
"The JPs only have so much authority. I know when I was a JP, there was many times the police requested something, and when I looked at the facts and the facts weren't there to grant their request, I had to make a decision contrary to what they wanted to have done.''
The manhunt for Schoenborn continued Friday, as the RCMP released new photos of the 40-year-old in the hopes they would generate fresh tips from the public.
In particular, the police want the public to note Schoenborn's small stature.
The RCMP have said they believe Schoenborn could be camping out in the bush in the area with his dog, a German Shepherd-retriever .
By Friday morning, the Mounties had received 190 tips about the case.
