Canadian person accused of managing more than and killing a Muslim spouse and children pleads not guilty
A Canadian guy accused of intentionally working in excess of and killing 4 associates of a Muslim family members in London, Ontario pleaded not guilty
ByThe Linked Push
September 5, 2023, 8:54 PM
Nathaniel Veltman is escorted while leaving demo outside the house Ontario Remarkable Courtroom in Windsor, Ontario, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. The trial of a gentleman dealing with terror-connected murder costs in the deaths of four associates of a Muslim spouse and children in London, Ontario, in 2021, has begun in Windsor. (Dax Melmer/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Related Push
WINDSOR, Ontario — A Canadian male accused of intentionally managing in excess of and killing 4 members of a Muslim family members in London, Ontario pleaded not guilty on Tuesday, as jury collection for his trial commenced.
Nathaniel Veltman is accused of deliberately hitting the Afzaal relatives associates with his truck as they were out for a wander on the night of June 6, 2021. He has been billed with 4 counts of first-degree murder and one particular depend of tried murder.
Standing future to the accused as the court docket registrar go through the fees, protection attorney Christopher Hicks entered not responsible pleas on Veltman’s behalf.
Veltman, who wore a very long-sleeve white shirt and black pants in courtroom, was sitting quietly between his protection lawyers Hicks and Peter Ketcheson for the duration of the jury selection approach.
Jury choice was established to carry on on Wednesday for the demo that is expected to very last 12 months.
Top-quality Courtroom Justice Renee Pomerance dominated previous yr that a transform of venue is warranted in the circumstance, relocating the trial from London to Windsor, Ontario.
The causes for that choice, as perfectly as the evidence and arguments introduced in court docket, can not be disclosed thanks to a publication ban.
Salman Afzaal, 46, his 44-year-outdated wife Madiha Salman, their 15-calendar year-aged daughter Yumnah and her 74-year-outdated grandmother, Talat Afzaal, had been killed in the assault. The couple’s 9-calendar year-previous son was also critically damage but survived.
Pomerance reported the prosecution is alleging that Veltman, who was 20 at the time of his arrest, was determined by extremist right-wing sights linked with white supremacy when he deliberately drove his truck more than a suppress to strike the Muslim relatives members.
None of the allegations has been proven in court docket.
The attack on the Afzaal family sent waves of shock, grief and concern across Canada and spurred ongoing phone calls for measures to overcome Islamophobia in the country.
The Town of London committed a garden to the Afzaal household.
