Man convicted in deadly 2018 Toronto van attack drops appeal

The man who carried out a deadly van attack in Toronto eight years ago is no longer challenging his more than two dozen convictions.

Ontario’s top court says Alek Minassian has abandoned the appeal of his convictions on 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 of attempted murder.

He had filed a notice of appeal in July 2022, about a month after he was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

He was also sentenced to 20 years for 15 counts of attempted murder, to be served concurrently.

Eight women and two men died on April 23, 2018, when the man deliberately drove a rented van down a crowded sidewalk.

The killer told police his rampage was a mission for the incel movement, an online subculture of so-called “involuntarily celibate” men who direct their misogynistic rage at women.

The judge noted that notoriety was predominantly a driving force in his crimes said she would not be naming the killer in her decision and referred to him instead as “John Doe.”

CBC News will continue to use his name, in some instances, for clarity.

He admitted at trial that he planned and executed the attack, but argued that he should be found not criminally responsible due to his autism spectrum disorder.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, argued Minassian is a mass killer who knew right from wrong and happens to also have autism.

The presiding judge, Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy, rejected the defence’s argument that the man never developed empathy as a result of his autism and was unable to make rational decisions.

The 10 people killed in the rampage were Ji Hun Kim, 22; So He Chung, 22; Anne Marie D’Amico, 30; Andrea Bradden, 33; Chul Min “Eddie” Kang, 45; Renuka Amarasingha, 45; Dorothy Sewell, 80; Geraldine Brady, 83; Munir Najjar, 85; and Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Forsyth, 94.

Another victim, Amaresh Tesfamariam, died in 2021 from injuries sustained in the attack.