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The man who committed the Toronto van attack that caused ten deaths and 16 injuries was found guilty of the 26 charges. A schedule for the sentencing will arrive on March 18.
Judge Anne Molloy, who asked reporters not to publish the author’s name, handed down the verdict on Wednesday.
Molloy said much depended on whether the perpetrator knew the crime was morally wrong rather than legally wrong. This would mean that he lacked a rational perception and therefore a rational choice, unable to rationally evaluate what he was doing.
Molloy said he was clear he knew the actions would be considered “by the vast majority of society as morally wrong.”
Molloy said he found that the defense had not shown the perpetrator did not know his crimes were morally wrong.
“I knew it was legally wrong to kill people, I also knew that his plan to attack and kill people was a first-degree murder … That’s why Mr. Doe attempted death by a police officer,” he said. Molloy.
The culprit had already admitted to renting a van and driving it along the North York sidewalk in April 2018, which intentionally hit civilians and killed mostly women. The shocking incident was classified by many as a “incel” terrorist attack.
Incels, a combination of “involuntary celibacy,” typically describes a young man who cannot attract women sexually.
Molloy also said the perpetrator rented the van more than three weeks before the attack and intentionally searched for a van large enough to cause as much damage as possible, but small enough to maneuver on sidewalks and make sharp turns.
The culprit’s lawyers argued that his autism made it impossible for him to recognize the seriousness of his actions, which Molloy said the defense failed to do.
It is the first major case in which an autism spectrum disorder has been used in an attempt to find someone who was not criminally responsible for a murder in Canada, according to CTV.
Canada’s penal code says not being criminally responsible means “being unable to appreciate the nature and quality of the act or omission or knowing it was wrong.”