Jeffrey Arenburg

Jeffrey Robert Arenburg (born December 30, 1956) is a Canadian gunman. A paranoid schizophrenic, he shot and killed sportscaster and ex-National Hockey League player Brian Smith in Ottawa, Ontario on August 1, 1995.

Early life

Arenburg was born in Upper Northfield, Nova Scotia to a farming family that raised cattle and sold produce.^[1] He dropped out of school in grade nine and later found employment as a scallop fisherman in Digby, Nova Scotia.^[1] He had reportedly been exhibiting symptoms of schizophrenia for some time but was not officially diagnosed until 1990.^[2] At some point he began to believe that his ex-wife and her family were "torturing" him by broadcasting his thoughts on radio and television.

He was hospitalized in 1990 after causing a disturbance at the Bridgewater courthouse in which he demanded an investigation, stating to authorities that his former in-laws were stealing his thoughts and selling them to Hollywood movie studios. He also came to believe that his former in-laws and the government were importing drugs into Nova Scotia and were "out to get him" due to his efforts to expose their activities. Following this disturbance, Arenburg told doctors at the South Shore Regional Hospital about the broadcasts and made threats to either burn down his in-laws' house or kill someone if the broadcasts of his thoughts were allowed to continue. He then demanded to be discharged and his request was granted, despite the threats he had made.^[2]

In January 1992, he physically assaulted a radio station manager in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, citing messages being broadcast in his head. Arenburg was found guilty of assault and fined $300 or two weeks in jail in the earlier incident, but never showed up for his trial. He had already skipped town and moved to Ottawa; the authorities in Bridgewater decided that it was not worth their while to track him down.

Ottawa shooting

On August 1, 1995, Arenburg went to the Ottawa television station CJOH. Witnesses said he parked his car approximately 60 metres from the front entrance of the CJOH studios, pulled a long-barreled .22-calibre rifle from his trunk and fired two shots, one hitting and killing the station's longtime sports anchor, Brian Smith.^[3] Arenburg had gone to the television studio because he believed the station was broadcasting messages in his head. Smith was the first broadcast personality that Arenburg saw and recognized coming out of the building.

Following the shooting, police recovered a list of other Ottawa media personalities in Arenburg's apartment, and an official at the city's press club noted that he had previously ejected Arenburg from the club three times for loudly demanding to see various people on his list. Arenburg had also reportedly been turned away from the Parliament Buildings on several occasions.

Arenburg was found not criminally responsible in Smith's death, due to his mental condition. He was remanded to the Oak Ridge Division of Mental Health Centre Penetanguishene. Smith's murder led to renewed calls in Canada for strengthening of the government's gun control legislation. In 2001, the Ontario Review Board began to grant Arenburg 72-hour release. He applied for full conditional release in 2004.

The Ontario Review Board granted Arenburg an absolute discharge from the Mental Health Centre Penetanguishene in November 2006. According to CFRA, the board heard that he no longer poses a significant risk to the community and no longer suffers from the symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia.^[4][5]

Post-release

On November 29, 2007, Arenburg was arrested after punching a U.S. customs officer in the head Buffalo, New York at the Peace Bridge International Crossing. According to officials, Arenburg attempted to enter the United States on a commercial bus as a passenger and was denied entry due to past criminal convictions.^[6] He was subsequently jailed for 2 years and was released on September 8, 2009.^[7][8] In a submission to the review board, a doctor said Arenburg had good insight into his illness but "would likely suffer from psychotic symptoms if he stops taking his medication."

As of early 2014, Arenburg resided in his hometown of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. While living in Bridewater he claimed in an interview on the fifth estate that he was no longer mentally ill and admitted he does not take the medication prescribed to keep his schizophrenia under control.^[9] In November 2014, Arenburg returned to Ottawa stating he had been run out of the small town after the interview aired. Upon arriving in Ottawa he was staying in a shelter with $15 to his name awaiting his Canada Pension Plan Disability cheque.^[10]

References