Canadian Man Found Guilty of Pakistani Family’s Murder in Ontario

Nathaniel Veltman, a Canadian man, has been found guilty of murder for intentionally running over and killing four members of the Afzaal family with his car in London, Ontario. The jury, however, did not explicitly determine whether the act was motivated by terrorism, according to a report by the BBC.

This case marked the first instance where Canada’s terrorism laws were presented to a jury in a first-degree murder trial. The 12-person jury reached a guilty verdict after less than six hours of deliberation, in accordance with Canadian law, which keeps deliberations secret.

The victims, a Pakistani-Canadian Muslim family, included Salman Afzaal (46), his wife Madiha Salman (44), their daughter Yumna Afzaal (15), and Salman’s mother Talat Afzaal (74). Their nine-year-old son was seriously injured but survived.

The courtroom at Windsor’s Superior Courthouse was filled when the guilty verdict was delivered, eliciting emotional reactions from spectators, including members of London’s Muslim community and friends of the Afzaals. Although the verdict doesn’t bring the family back, the Afzaal family’s relatives expressed solace, emphasizing the ongoing need to address hatred in all its forms in Canada.

Tabinda Bukhari, speaking on behalf of the family, stated, “This wasn’t just a crime against the Muslim community, but rather, an attack against the safety and security of all Canadians.”

The National Council of Muslims (NCCM) expressed relief that justice had been served and highlighted the transformative impact the attack had on Canadian Muslims’ perception of their country.

Both the prosecution and the defense acknowledged that Veltman was driving the day of the incident. Veltman, who pleaded not guilty, claimed to be mentally ill. The jury heard evidence of his anti-Muslim sentiments and consumption of far-right content online during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Veltman, influenced by his strict Christian upbringing and admitting to having obsessive-compulsive disorder, stated that he felt detached from reality after consuming magic mushrooms. He resisted the idea of running over Muslims twice before succumbing to the “urge” when he saw the Afzaal family during an outing.

Sentencing for Veltman is scheduled for a later date. In Canada, the punishment for first-degree murder is life in prison with no parole for 25 years.

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