Killer of London, Ont., Muslim family appeals convictions, challenging use of manifesto at trial

Warning: This story contains distressing details.

A London, Ont., man convicted of killing four members of a Muslim family and severely injuring a fifth member in a hate-motivated attack four years ago is appealing on three grounds, including that the judge should not have allowed the jury to consider his white nationalist manifesto.

A Windsor jury found Nathaniel Veltman guilty in November 2023 of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. Three months later, then Superior Court Justice Renee Pomerance ruled his actions amounted to a "textbook case" of terrorism as defined under Canadian law. He was sentenced in January 2024.

Friday's news of the appeal comes on the fourth anniversary of the killing of Yumnah Afzaal, 15, her parents — Madiha Salman, 44, an engineer, and Salman Afzaal, 46, a physiotherapist — and family matriarch Talat Afzaal, 74, a teacher and artist. The youngest family member, a boy, survived.

Veltman drove his pickup truck into the family as they were taking an evening stroll on June 6, 2021.

"I appreciate that the community was horrified by this offence and the remaining members of the family were devastated by this offence. I respect that, and I feel very badly for both the family and for the community," Veltman's appeal lawyer, Stephen Whitzman, told CBC News.

"Mr. Veltman, of course, has a right to exercise his full legal rights, including his right to an appeal, and it's my job as his lawyer to assist him in doing that, and I hope that everyone will understand that those two things can both exist together."

WATCH | CBC's coverage of the judge's 2023 ruling in the Muslim attack case:

A judge in London, Ont., ruled the actions of the man who ran down a Muslim family with his truck in 2021, killing four people, were a ‘textbook example of terrorist motive and intent.' Nathaniel Veltman was already sentenced to life in prison for murdering four members of the Afzaal family.

The appeal is being sought on three grounds, based on court records obtained by CBC News:

• The judge erred in admitting the ideological evidence, including Veltman's white supremacist manifesto, titled "A White Awakening," which set out his political and racist views.
• The judge erred in admitting Veltman's statements to a police officer which were obtained via a "Charter breach," meaning he was not properly warned of his rights.
• The judge erred in refusing the defence application for a mistrial because of what Veltman's lawyer at the time called "inflammatory language" during the Crown's closing statement, including references to the crime scene and the grievous injuries suffered by the victims.

Veltman's trial lasted 12 weeks. The jury heard evidence he was motivated by right-wing extremist and Islamophobic views, and he described himself as a white nationalist. He grew up in a strict Christian home and fell into a web of online hate during the COVID-19 pandemic, the trial heard.

Veltman testified in his own defence and said he took magic mushrooms a day before the killing in order to escape the "hell" of his mind. The killing galvanized London and Canadian society to create laws and groups that would combat Islamophobia.

As it has on every anniversary of the killing, the community gathered Friday to reflect on the family, who became known as Our London Family, and to recognize the impact of the tragedy.