Jeffrey Arenburg, killer of sportscaster Brian Smith, dies
Jeffrey Arenburg, the man who fatally shot Ottawa TV sportscaster Brian Smith in 1995, has died.
Ottawa police's major crimes unit confirmed Arenburg died on June 13 of natural causes. There is no investigation into the death, police said.
Arenburg was found not criminally responsible for Smith's killing on account of his schizophrenia.
He spent six years in a psychiatric institution, followed by time in a halfway house, but was granted an absolute discharge in 2006 by the Ontario Review Board.
Arenburg told the CBC's The Fifth Estate in an exclusive interview broadcast in 2014 that he began hearing voices in his early 30s, after suffering an accident that broke his back and left him temporarily unable to walk.
He said he tried many ways to get the voices to stop, including attempting to enter the Parliament buildings to persuade the prime minister to use his influence to halt the broadcasts of his thoughts. He also disrupted court proceedings and threatened radio stations with violence, and was convicted of assault for attacking a station employee.
On Aug. 1, 1995, he was waiting outside the CJOH television station with a 22-calibre rifle when Smith stepped out of the building.
He told The Fifth Estate he had no issue with Smith.
"He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said.
Smith died the next day, when he was taken off life support.
