The fate of the man accused of killing four member of a Muslim family was placed in the hands of a jury on Wednesday, as the judge presiding over Nathaniel Veltman's murder trial delivered her final instructions in the landmark case.
Veltman, 22, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder after being accused of deliberately hitting the Afzaal family with his truck on June 6, 2021, while they were out for a walk in London, Ont.
Prosecutors have alleged Veltman, who has admitted to being inspired by extremist ideology, committed an act of terrorism.
Justice Renee Pomerance told jurors that they are "the judges of the facts" in the case.
"It's your duty to decide whether the Crown has proven Nathaniel Veltman's guilt beyond reasonable doubt," she said.
"There will be no more evidence. You must make your decision based on all of the evidence presented to you in the courtroom."
Pomerance told the jury they should deliver a first-degree murder verdict if they unanimously agree that the Crown established Veltman had intent to kill the victims, and planned and deliberated his attack.
The judge noted that defence lawyers have agreed that Veltman committed an unlawful act that caused the death of the victims and that makes him guilty of manslaughter.
"The next step is to ask if Mr. Veltman is guilty of murder," Pomerance said.
"Here you must ask whether at the time of the killings Mr. Veltman had the necessary intention for murder, whether he intended to cause the death of the victims or intended to cause them bodily harm that he knew was likely to cause death and was reckless.
"If you are satisfied beyond reasonable doubt the murders were both planned and deliberate, you must find Mr. Veltman guilty of first-degree murder," she continued.
The judge also instructed jurors that they could reach a first-degree murder conviction based on the terrorism charge.
"If you are satisfied beyond reasonable doubt the murders were motivated by political, religious or ideological objective, that they were aimed at intermediating a segment of the public in relation to its security, then you would find Mr. Veltman guilty of first-degree murder on the basis the murders are terrorist activity," she said.
The jury heard closing arguments from the defence and the Crown after 10 weeks of testimony and evidence presented in court.
In addressing jurors in a Windsor, Ont., courtroom earlier Wednesday, the Crown argued that Veltman carried out a terrorist act, and should be convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
Crown attorney Fraser Ball said Veltman planned his attack for months, bought a large pickup truck on a loan and installed a heavy grille guard on it.
Ball said Veltman had a message for Muslims in Canada that they would be killed like the Afzaal family if they didn't leave the country.
He said Veltman had also a message to other white nationalists and he wanted to inspire them to commit violent attacks.
On Tuesday, the defence had argued Veltman is not guilty of first-degree murder, nor did he commit an act of terrorism, because he didn't have criminal intent to kill the victims and didn't deliberate and plan the attack.
Christopher Hicks said Veltman suffered from several mental disorders including severe depression, autism spectrum disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder and had ingested magic mushrooms two days before the attack.
He said the attack was a "drug-induced hypomanic event" and that Veltman's conduct around the time of the attack demonstrates "elevated" and "unpredictable" behaviour.
Hicks argued Veltman was not guilty of first- or second-degree murder but should still be held responsible for the deaths of the victims.
Forty-six-year-old Salman Afzaal; his 44-year-old wife, Madiha Salman; their 15-year-old daughter, Yumna; and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal, were killed in the attack, while the couple's nine-year-old son was seriously hurt but survived.
During the trial, Veltman testified that he was influenced by the writings of a gunman who committed the 2019 mass killings of 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques in New Zealand.
He also told jurors that he had been considering using his pickup truck, which he bought a month earlier, to carry out an attack and looked up information online about what happens when pedestrians get struck by cars at various speeds.
Veltman testified that he ordered a bulletproof vest and a military-style helmet online in the month leading up to the attack and wore them on the day he ran down the Afzaal family.
Veltman also told the jury that he felt an "urge'' to hit the family with his truck after seeing them walking on a sidewalk, adding that he knew they were Muslims from the clothes they were wearing and he noticed that the man in the group had a beard.
Jurors had previously seen video of Veltman telling a detective that his attack had been motivated by white nationalist beliefs.
Court has heard that he wrote a manifesto in the weeks before the attack, describing himself as a white nationalist and peddling unfounded conspiracy theories about Muslims.
The case is the first where Canada's terrorism laws are being put before a jury in a first-degree murder trial.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2023.
Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press
