‘I was the last person to see them alive’: Toronto hears from the victims of the Yonge Street van attack
The van attack killer will be sentenced to life in prison this week, but not before a downtown court hears the accounts of dozens of people who had their lives changed by one of Canada's worst acts of mass murder.
Alek Minassian's sentencing hearings are set to begin Monday at 10 a.m. inside downtown Toronto's Superior Court, with the proceedings booked for a week.
Those connected to the case are bracing for the reading of three dozen victim impact statements, possibly over several days - placing the trial's focus squarely on the human cost of Minassian's 2.57-kilometre rampage down Yonge Street on a sunny afternoon on April 23, 2018.
The Star's live coverage will begin Monday morning. The order of speakers: community representatives, civilians who offered first aid before medics and police arrived, first responders, injured victims and the families of the dead.
This is going to be the hardest part, I think, of the entire trial, listening to the horror being repeated, peoples' hearts being poured out to a person who apparently doesn't give a damn," said injured victim Cathy Riddell, 71. She continues to recover four years after the van slammed into her from behind, leaving her with a fractured spine, broken scapula and pelvis.
The Star's live coverage from Monday's hearings:
11:00 a.m.: Three women who stopped to try and save the lives of the people run down by Minassian on April 23, 2018, told the court of the lasting trauma and pain they live with. Survivor's guilt. Replaying what happened. Wondering if they could have done more. Flashbacks to the day triggered through daily life. Panic attacks, depression, anger.
I was the last person to see them alive," one said. Hers was the last voice some people heard - all because of one man who made an evil choice."
After each of them spoke, Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy emotionally commended each of them for their courage in coming to court and their choices that terrible day.
Your community thanks you," she said.
- Alyshah Hasham
Victim impact statements give courts the chance to hear from the people most hurt by an offender's actions before deciding their fate, however, Minassian's is already decided - he's getting an automatic maximum sentence of life in prison.
Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy found Alek Minassian guilty of 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder 15 months ago.
The key issue at trial was whether Minassian had the state of mind to commit murder; Molloy found that he did. His attack on these 26 victims that day was an act of a reasoning mind, notwithstanding its horrific nature, and notwithstanding that he has no remorse for it and no empathy for his victims," she wrote in her decision.
Monday's hearings had been delayed pending the outcome of a Supreme Court of Canada case involving Alexandre Bissonnette, the man who fatally shot six people inside a Quebec City mosque in 2017. Late last month, the high court unanimously struck down a 2011 law that allowed judges to impose consecutive 25-year periods of parole ineligibility in cases of multiple first-degree murders - such as Bissonnette. That was cruel and incompatible with our system of justice, the court found.
The result is that the Crown can no longer ask the judge to order that Minassian serve 25 years of parole ineligibility for each of the 10 murders - up to an implausible 250 years - before being afforded his first parole hearing. Instead, he can apply to the parole board after serving 25 years, as the 29-year-old closes in on his 50s.
There is no guarantee that Minassian will ever get paroled. Few violent offenders who apply for parole at their first opportunity are successful.
Minassian, who will turn 30 this fall, has been held in custody at Toronto's South Detention Centre since his arrest that April afternoon.
One unknown is whether Minassian will accept the judge's offer - a normal part of the sentencing process - to address court before Molloy imposes his mandatory life sentence. His lawyer, Boris Bytensky, declined to comment.
Minassian did not testify at the trial. But the court heard his voice in hours of interviews he gave to police and doctors, where he spoke of his loneliness, Bible reading and fascination with mass murders and the hateful incel" movement, made up of men who blame women for their feelings of rejection.
Asked by one doctor what he would say to survivors of the attack if given an opportunity, Minassian responded that he doubted they would be receptive to anything he had to say.
Pressed further, Minassian said he would tell them he was isolated and bitter at society, that he felt left out and without friends and that he wanted to achieve some notoriety and approval. He also acknowledged what he did was stupid and did not make him powerful, but rather that he was weak compared to the victims and their families.
In Molloy's decision, she referred to him only as John Doe" - an attempt to deny him the fame he craved.
Betsy Powell is a Toronto-based reporter covering crime and courts for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @powellbetsy
Alyshah Hasham is a Toronto-based reporter covering crime and court for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @alysanmati
Ghada Alsharif is a Toronto-based staff reporter for the Star. Reach Ghada via email: galsharif@torstar.ca