Alek Minassian, convicted in deadly 2018 Toronto van attack, drops appeal

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Bluesky
• Share on X
• Copy Link

Eight women and two men died on April 23, 2018, when Minassian — enraged that women wouldn’t sleep with him and radicalized online — deliberately drove a rented van down a crowded sidewalk in his quest for infamy.

Golfing in November

This Sask. golf course is reopening for the next week thanks to favourable weather

1h ago

Business first

Making the business case, Premier Scott Moe talks about Port of Churchill expansion

3h ago

Crime and court

Teenage girl charged with killing homeless woman, enters guilty plea

4h ago

He admitted at trial that he planned and executed the attack, but argued that he should be found not criminally responsible due to his autism spectrum disorder.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, argued Minassian is a mass killer who knew right from wrong and happens to also have autism.

The presiding judge, Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy, rejected the defence’s argument that Minassian never developed empathy as a result of his autism and was unable to make rational decisions.

The 10 people killed in the rampage were Ji Hun Kim, 22; So He Chung, 22; Anne Marie D’Amico, 30; Andrea Bradden, 33; Chul Min “Eddie” Kang, 45; Renuka Amarasingha, 45; Dorothy Sewell, 80; Geraldine Brady, 83; Munir Najjar, 85; and Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Forsyth, 94.

Another victim, Amaresh Tesfamariam, died in 2021 from injuries sustained in the attack.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2026.

The Canadian Press