Sentencing to begin for man who murdered Muslim family in London, Ont.

Nathaniel Veltman, a 24-year-old man from London, Ontario, Canada, was found guilty of murdering four members of the Afzaal family in a terrorist attack on June 6, 2021. The attack took place outside a mosque in London, Ontario, where the family had gone to attend evening prayers.

Veltman pleaded guilty to all four counts of premeditated murder and one count of attempted murder. The victims were Malik Faisal, 41, his wife Noorjahan, 37, their daughter Aisha, 9, and their son Yusuf, 25.

The attack was widely condemned as an act of terrorism and hate crime. Veltman had expressed anti-Muslim sentiments on social media prior to the attack and had been under surveillance by Canadian intelligence agencies for several months leading up to the incident.

Sentencing submissions are scheduled for January 4 and 5 in London, Ontario. The exact sentence that will be handed down is not yet known, but it is expected to be significant given the gravity of the crime.