A man who killed four members of a Muslim family in London, Ontario, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years.
Nathaniel Veltman was also given a concurrent life sentence for the attempted murder of a boy who survived the 2021 attack.
Veltman, 23, was convicted in November of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder for ramming members of the Afzaal family with his pickup truck as they were walking on April 6. June 2021.
Judge Renee Pomerance also ruled that Veltman’s attack amounted to terrorism.
It was the first time that Canada’s terrorism laws were put before a jury in a first-degree murder trial.
Members of the Afzaal family, who were among those gathered in the packed London courtroom, were seen crying as Judge Pomerance delivered her closing remarks.
Veltman was convicted of murdering 46-year-old Salman Afzaal; his wife of 44 years, Madiha Salman; their 15-year-old daughter, Yumna; and 74-year-old grandmother Talat Afzaal. The couple’s nine-year-old son was seriously injured but survived the tragedy.
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