The man accused of killing four members of a Muslim family in London, Ont., in an alleged act of terrorism told a jury Wednesday that 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 said he was considering using his pickup truck, which he bought a month earlier, to carry out an attack and looked up information online about what happens when pedestrians get struck by cars.
Veltman said he wrote down data he found that indicated the likelihood of pedestrians' injury and death increased if the vehicle hitting them was travelling at higher speeds.
"I was certainly in danger mode when I was actively researching the effects of vehicles on pedestrians," he said.
"I copied down all the percentages that I saw on this website: injuries, deaths and non-injuries, and I was considering, started to consider, action."
Veltman also testified that he ordered a bulletproof vest and a military-style helmet online in the month leading up to the attack and wore them on June 6, 2021, when he ran down the Muslim family with his truck.
"I didn't order them at the same time," he said of the vest and helmet. "They were very expensive."
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 testified Wednesday that he signed a contract to buy his pickup truck on May 11, 2021, a few weeks before the attack. He said he had tried to buy another truck earlier but his low income didn't allow him to qualify for a loan at that time.
Crown attorney Jennifer Moser, who was cross-examining Veltman, told him the truck contract shows it was sold to him for $21,995 and the cost of borrowing was $10,776, with a 12.9 per cent interest rate.
"That is a lot of money for you ... this was right around the same time that you were purchasing the vest and the helmet in May," she said. "You had no intention of ever paying back this loan."
Veltman denied that was his intention and said he intended to go back to study at Fanshaw college in London when COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.
Veltman has been testifying in his own defence since last week.
He told the jury on Tuesday that he felt an "urge" to hit the Afzaal 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 earlier this week 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.
Court has heard he wrote a manifesto in the weeks before the attack, describing himself as a white nationalist and peddling unfounded conspiracy theories about Muslims.
Jurors have previously seen video of Veltman telling a detective after his arrest 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 in which Canada's terrorism laws are being put before a jury in a first-degree murder trial.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2023.
Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press
