Left to right: Justice Renee Pomerance, Nathaniel Veltman, defence lawyers Peter Ketcheson and Christopher Hicks attend court during Veltman's trial in Windsor, Ont., as shown in this Oct. 12 courtroom sketch.Alexandra Newbould/The Canadian Press
The man accused of killing four members of a Muslim family in London, Ont., in an alleged act of terrorism is telling a jury he researched fatality rates of pedestrians hit by vehicles a day before his attack.
On the stand in the Windsor, Ont., courtroom where his trial is taking place, Nathaniel Veltman says he considered using his pickup truck to carry out an attack and looked up information online on what happens when pedestrians get struck by cars.
Veltman says he wrote down data he found online that indicated the likelihood of pedestrian injury and death increased if the vehicle hitting them was travelling at higher speeds.
The 22-year-old Veltman is accused of deliberately hitting the Afzaal family with his truck in June 2021 while they were out for a walk in London – prosecutors have alleged his actions amount to an act of terrorism.
He has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
Veltman has been testifying in his own defence and told the jury on Tuesday that he felt an “urge” to hit the family with his truck after seeing them walking on a sidewalk, adding that he knew they were Muslims from the clothes they were wearing and he noticed that the man in the group had a beard.
He also told the jury on Monday that he drove to Toronto a day before the attack to explore the possibility of targeting Muslims in that city, but panicked and returned to his London apartment.
Jurors have previously seen video of Veltman telling a detective that his attack had been motivated by white nationalist beliefs.
Salman Afzaal, 46; his 44-year-old wife, Madiha Salman; their 15-year-old daughter, Yumna; and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal, were killed in the attack, while the couple’s nine-year-old son was seriously hurt but survived.
The case is the first where Canada’s terrorism laws are being put before a jury in a first-degree murder trial.