The man found who killed an Ottawa broadcaster in 1995 will appear in a Buffalo court this morning after a U.S. border officer was punched in the face.
Officials of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Jeffrey Arenburg, 50, of Barrie, was on a bus crossing the border at the Peace Bridge on Thursday when the incident occurred.
Arenburg, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, was found not criminally responsible for the slaying of Ottawa sports broadcaster Brian Smith in August 1995. He had been held in a mental institution after Smith's murder, and released just a year ago.
Smith's widow, Alana Kainz, who was reached outside the country, was alarmed when told of the incident.
"This is what I've been saying for years – this man continues to be dangerous," she said in a telephone interview.
"I thought it'd be sooner than this, actually. It didn't take him long to show his violent tendencies."
He has a history of getting off his medication, she added.
U.S. border officials said that on Thursday, Arenburg told officers he was going shopping in the Buffalo area. However, document checks revealed that Arenburg had been denied entry to the U.S. several times previously because of his criminal record, the officials said.
When he was told he would again be denied entry, an officer was punched in the face, officials said.
Arenburg was subdued by other officers, arrested, charged with assault on an officer and jailed to await today's court appearance.
In 1995, Smith was shot as he walked through the television station's parking lot on his way to a children's charity event.
Evidence at subsequent hearings revealed that Arenburg had gone to the station because he thought the facility was broadcasting messages in his head. Smith just happened to be the first person that he recognized.
The crime shocked the normally quiet capital, and the news that his killer was again involved in a violent incident "is going to shake everyone here up," said Kimothy Walker, who is a news anchor on CTV News in Ottawa.
"We were highly alarmed because his behaviour is what we've all been afraid of for years ... Our concern is that he'll return to his violent behaviour. We have always worried he might come back here."
Kainz, who has in the past expresses sympathy for Arenburg's mental condition, said Thursday's incident shows he still needs psychiatric help and issued a plea to U.S. authorities.
"Please do not release him at this point. Somebody needs to take care of him, so he doesn't go off and kill someone."
