The accused, who was 17 at the time of the murder, cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Now 20, he made his plea in Ontario Superior Court before Justice Suhail Akhtar on Wednesday morning, where the court heard he had been thinking about carrying out his violent acts for months. Slouching forward with his head down, the defendant spoke softly as he answered “Yes” to the judge, who explained that pleading guilty would waive his rights to a trial and appeal. When his charges were read aloud, he clearly answered “Guilty” to both. Asked why he identified as an incel, the teenager told police in a statement: “You don’t choose to be an incel. You’re born.” The plea does not cover related terrorism charges against the defendants, which were added in the months after the February 2020 killing of 24-year-old Ashley Noell Arzaga and the stabbing of another man and woman at Crown Spa in the city’s west end. Arzaga suffered at least 42 sharp-force injuries, including 15 defensive injuries, according to an agreed statement of facts. The case is believed to mark the first time terrorism charges have been brought in connection with an act fueled by Incel ideology. The van attack killer, Alek Minassian, was never charged with terrorism. The judge who found him guilty noted that he had said in some interviews that he linked his actions to fueling the ideology of fame. In late February 2020, police were called to a massage parlor in Toronto’s north end for a stabbing that left Ashley Noell Arzaga dead and another woman and a man with multiple stab wounds. A case file was filed against the 17-year-old for first-degree murder and attempted murder. (Michael Cole/CBC)
Woman grabbed the sword from the man, ending the attack
Incel ideology, or involuntary celibacy, began as an online misogynistic subculture and is typically characterized by hatred or blame against women for their inability to find a romantic or sexual partner. The term gained widespread attention in 2018 when a man posting about the so-called “incel uprising” drove a truck onto a sidewalk in Toronto, killing 10 people and injuring 16 others. According to an agreed statement of facts, the woman who survived the attack managed to grab a nearly half-metre-long sword from the attacker after he had been stabbed repeatedly and turned the weapon on the man, stabbing him in the back and ending the rampage. As he attacked her, the teenager told her: “Die, die, die”, calling her a “stupid whore”. After stabbing the man, the woman then managed to get to a neighboring business and asked someone inside to call the police. The court was shown a 20-minute collection of surveillance video in which the young man was seen stabbing Arzaga, the massage parlor receptionist, to death. The video begins with the teenager walking from his home less than two kilometers from the spa and shows in graphic detail the moment he drew the sword, killing Arzaga. Family members and loved ones of the victims were visibly emotional, hugging each other as the scenes played out on large screens in the courtroom. CBC News spoke to the woman who survived, who said she hoped the judge would give the defendant the maximum sentence based on the evidence against him. The woman cannot be named as her identity is protected by a publication ban. Asked what it was like to watch the surveillance video, she replied: “I’ve seen it a few times already. I’m strong.” The woman said she expected being in the same room as the perpetrator to be “a lot harder than it was,” adding that she was grateful for all the support she received.
“My life is ruined,” says the striker
The court heard that the accused was found with a handwritten note after the attack, which read: “Long live the incel uprising”. As for why she was carrying the note, she told officers: “I wanted everyone to find it. I wanted people to know that there are people like us and it’s not really fair.” The court also heard that the sword used as the murder weapon was engraved with the words ‘thot slayer’ — ‘thot’ being a derogatory term used against women. When one of the responding paramedics asked him what happened, the court heard he replied that he “wanted to kill everyone in the building and I’m glad I got one”. Defendant said he did not remember making that statement, but did not dispute that he made it. In his statement to the police, the then-teenager told the police that he did not expect to live at the end of the day and believed that the police would have killed him. “It wasn’t worth it. My life is ruined now,” he said. He also noted that he feared how other inmates might treat him behind bars. A judge will now determine whether the defendant’s actions meet the threshold of terrorist activity. The Criminal Code defines terrorism as an act carried out “for a political, religious or ideological purpose, purpose or cause” intended to intimidate the public by causing or attempting to cause death or grievous bodily harm by violence, endangering health and safety or disrupting an essential service. Crown prosecutors are pushing for an adult sentence, while the defense argues the actions were not terrorism and is asking for a youth sentence.
