TORONTO — The man who used his rental van as a weapon on a busy Toronto sidewalk in 2018, killing 10 people and badly injuring 16 in the city’s worst mass killing, was found guilty of murder and attempted murder by an Ontario judge on Wednesday.
Rejecting the novel argument that his autism spectrum disorder rendered him not criminally responsible, Justice Anne Molloy of the Ontario Superior Court ruled that the defendant, Alek Minassian, understood clearly what he was doing, despite the conclusion of some experts that he was incapable of feeling empathy because of his neurodevelopmental disorder.
This was the exercise of free will by a rational brain, capable of choosing between right and wrong,” said Justice Molloy, who throughout Her verdict refused to identify the defendant by name, instead calling him “John Doe,” as she did not want indulge the fame he desired. “It does not matter that he does not have remorse, nor empathize with the victims,” the judge said.The ruling comes with an automatic 10 life sentences. What will be decided at a future sentencing date is when Mr. Minassian can seek parole, said his lawyer, Boris Bytensky.
“He can spend the rest of his life in jail and he deserves it,” said Cathy Riddell, 70, a former Paralympian who suffered more than 20 injuries in the attack, including major brain trauma.
“You name me a mass murderer who actually has empathy for his victims. If they cared, they wouldn’t have done it,” said Ms. Riddell.
She added, “Here’s a mass murderer who just happens to have autism.”
Toronto Mayor John Tory said in a statement, “Make no mistake, this was an attack fueled by misogyny and hatred of women and should be treated as such.”
It was a beautiful spring afternoon in April 2018 when Mr. Minassian, driving a rental van he had picked up just an hour earlier, mounted the curb of a busy sidewalk in the city’s dense north end, and plowed into pedestrians, sending bodies as high as 26 feet into the air and dragging others under the vehicle.He finally stopped when a victim’s coffee splashed onto the windshield, blurring his view. Then he attempted “suicide by copThe dead included two 22-year-old students from South Korea, a Jordanian man visiting his grandchildren and a single mother who had immigrated from Sri Lanka,