University of Waterloo attacker apologizes at sentencing hearing, saying ‘violence for any reason is wrong’

A former student who pleaded guilty to murder in the 2023 stabbing death of a University of Waterloo gender studies class in 2023 said at his sentencing hearing Friday that he apologizes for his actions and to the people affected by them.

Geovanny Villalba Aleman, 25, took the stand on the fifth and final day of the hearing at the Ontario Court of Justice in Kitchener.

He began his apology by addressing “all those who may have been affected” by his decision to attack a class in Hagee Hall.

“I accepted that violence is wrong for any reason.”

“When I was a child, I never learned to trust,” he added, reflecting on how he witnessed his father beating his mother, his father apologizing, and then him repeating the cycle of abuse. He described how it damaged his confidence in his father’s apology, but said his apology to the court was sincere.

“I just want to apologize to the people who thought it was terrible,” he said, acknowledging that some people might not believe him.

The hearing began Monday with statements from victims, including associate professor Catherine Fulfer and two students who were injured in the attack.

Earlier this week, Dr. Smita Veer Tyagi, forensic and clinical psychologist detained by the defense, provided the court with a report assessing his mental state. The psychologist said she learned he had low self-esteem and believed social interactions were stressful, and diagnosed him with bipolar disorder, adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Tyagi explained that her diagnosis of Villalbe Alemanu was based on his own words and descriptions of his mental state before and during the attack, so she could not say with absolute certainty whether he was experiencing a psychotic break at the time of the attack or whether he had ever experienced one in his own. life psychotic breakdown.

Giovanni Villalba-Aleman pleaded guilty to four counts in connection with the stabbing incident during a gender studies class last June. (Geovanni Villalba-Aleman/Facebook)

On Tuesday, the Crown detailed the assault-related charges he pleaded guilty to in June of this year, as well as a federal terrorism charge being considered as part of his sentence. Lawyer Howard Piafsky spoke about this at the hearing. that Villalba Aleman acted “to strike fear into his perceived enemies.”

One of the key components of terrorism under Canadian law is that the act must be committed for a political, religious or ideological purpose.

If Villalba Aleman is found to have committed a hate crime, the Crown is asking Judge Frances Brennan to sentence the 25-year-old to 13 years in prison. For the guilty plea to the terrorism charge, which carries a possible life sentence, the Crown is seeking 16 years in prison.

Brennan will review the evidence presented at the sentencing trial and expects to hand down sentencing on Jan. 27.

Fulfer attended every day of the sentencing hearing. She did not want to be interviewed outside court after the hearing ended Friday.

Debate over defining a former student’s ideology

The defense lawyer argues that it is difficult to determine exactly what Villalba Aleman’s ideology is because he was difficult to understand during his lengthy interview with police immediately after the attack.

Cooper Lord, one of the defense lawyers, said more than 350 words were marked as “inaudible” in the transcript of his interview with police.

Lord noted that Fulfer described the former student as “coming to terms” with the attack.

“I take that to mean his heart wasn’t in it,” Lord told the court.

Counsel further disputed the Crown’s suggestion that his actions during Pride Month were deliberate as his mental state had been deteriorating in the months leading up to the attack.

Lord pointed to the part of the police interview where the former student told the officer: “To be honest, I’m not transphobic,” and added that his main motivation was based on protecting freedom of speech or academia.

The defense asked Brennan to consider an eight-year prison sentence if Villalba Aleman is convicted of terrorism.

Piafski reiterated his position that he carried out the attack because of his ideology and should be found guilty of terrorism rather than just hatred, which would result in a lesser sentence.

“It’s not just targeting the LGBT community,” Piafsky said. “His motivation is not just hatred – it is a political and ideological problem.”

Piafsky and Brennan continued a long debate about how best to determine the man’s ideology and whether it met the Criminal Code’s definition of terrorism.