TORONTO — A man who killed 10 people when he drove a van into crowds of pedestrians on a busy Toronto sidewalk in 2018 has admitted in a court document to planning and carrying out the attack.
Alek Minassian faces 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 of attempted murder in connection with the attack on April 23, 2018.
The 27-year-old is in court for a pre-trial motion hearing where his lawyer is fighting over the admissibility of a statement he gave to a booking officer shortly after his arrest.
The two sides also agreed to a set of facts in the case, with the judge-alone trial set to begin next month.
Minassian told police shortly after the attack that he carried it out in retribution for years of sexual rejection and ridicule by women.
The judge has said the case will turn on Minassian’s state of mind at the time of the attack, not whether he did it.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2020.
The Canadian Press
The Canadian Press
