Incel guilty of terrorist attack apologizes to victims

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The exterior of the crime scene at Crown Spa massage parlor on February 24, 2020 in north Toronto.

Radio-Canada

The young incel who killed a masseuse more than three years ago in a Toronto salon apologized to the victims' loved ones on Thursday. Aged 17 at the time of the crime, the man, whose identity is protected by the Youth Criminal Justice Act, pleaded guilty last year to murder and attempted murder.

This macabre event dates back to February 2020.

He apologized to the family of Ashley Noelle Arzaga, whom he killed. She was 24 years old at the time of the events. He also apologized to a woman who was seriously injured.

I had never met Ashley before, I don't know what kind of person she was like, but what I do know is that she was a completely innocent person. She was just a human being with the ability to think and feel like me, he said slowly and mechanically, not looking up from a crumpled piece of paper as the victims' relatives looked at him. He further apologized to a woman injured in the attack who was in court and to Ms Arzaga's daughter for effectively destroying the rest of your childhood. I realized that there is more to life than just negativity on the internet. […] I wish I could travel back in time and make sense of my old self, he said.

The man, now 20, says he has changed over the past three years. He says he no longer hates women.

Crown lawyers also read statements from Arzaga's siblings, who said her murder destroyed their family, and asked Justice Suhail Akhtar to consider the safety of their surviving family members as well as that of other women in his sentencing decision. Defense attorney Monte MacGregor called the case one of the worst and most horrific cases he has defended in his career. [The Crown] will say it was a complex and well-thought-out plan that he carried out, but as more is learned about who he is, it #x27;is sad and pitiful, he said of his client.

That's what he is: not loved enough, friendless, bullied, uneducated, ignorant of the world and choosing to lash out for no reason because other introverts hiding in the dark are spreading their conspiracy theories about why they are being mistreated, MacGregor said.

Justice Akhtar had previously described the attack as an act of terrorism.

The man admitted that he had stabbed the February 24, 2020 a masseuse in a Toronto massage parlor and that he had injured another before being arrested by the police.

A dilemma now arises as to the punishment to be imposed. Crown lawyers are arguing in favor of an adult conviction, arguing that the accused, now an adult, must be held responsible accordingly. However, the defense highlights the inmate's safety fears and asks for a sentence consistent with the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The decision will be released on November 28.

With information from Jean-Philippe Nadeau and TheCanadian Press