NPR

'No Remorse': Toronto's Van Attack Killer Found Guilty Of 1st Degree Murder

The Toronto man's lawyer argued he was autistic and therefore incapable of understanding the consequences of his actions. The judge tossed out the defense.
Survivors of the 2018 van attack in Toronto were joined by friends and families of the victims outside the courthouse in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 28-year-old man responsible for the attack was found guilty Wednesday morning.

Twenty-eight-year old Alek Minassian was found guilty on 26 charges that include murder and attempted murder Wednesday for purposefully driving a van through a crowd in Toronto nearly three years ago.

On April 23, 2018, the man drove a white rental. Defense attorney Boris Bytensky argued his client's autism disorder rendered him incapable of developing empathy and therefore unaware of the consequences of his actions, the reported. Justice Anne Molloy immediately dismissed that as a defense. She found Minassian guilty of 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder. Lack of empathy, she said, was not a defense.

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