A forensic psychiatrist who assessed Alek Minassian on behalf of the Crown is being cross-examined by Minassian’s defence lawyer Monday.
Dr. Scott Woodside, a long-time forensic psychiatrist based at the Centre for Mental Health and Addictions in Toronto, has said he does not think Minassian meets the test to be found not criminally responsible for Toronto’s worst mass killing.
Minassian clearly understood what he was doing was morally wrong because that was part of his motivation for carrying out his plan, Woodside testified Friday.
“That, in fact, is part of the calculation. He was going to morally outrage people. This is part of how he become famous, by doing something that people will recognize as a horrible, horrific act,” said Dr. Scott Woodside, explaining his opinion that Minassian is criminally responsible. “You have to do the worst thing, the most pain… his degree of infamy depends on that.”
Minassian had been fantasizing about mass murder for years, and when he could no longer see hope for his future, he rented a van and weeks later set out to run down many people as possible and then be killed by police, Woodside said. On April 23, 2018, Minassian killed 10 people, injured 16 more and sent waves of trauma through Toronto.
Minassian, 28, is seeking to be found not criminally responsible for the murder and attempted murder of 26 people. He is arguing that his autism spectrum disorder rendered him unable to know what he did was morally wrong. There are no Canadian cases in which a not criminally responsible defence has been raised involving the sole diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.
The key defence witness, Yale-based forensic psychiatrist Dr. Alexander Westphal testified that Minassian’s autism spectrum disorder has caused him to have a “substantial defect in social development” and lack of empathy, which in turn means his ability to morally reason and understand moral wrongfulness is affected by his inability to take the perspectives of other people. Westphal concluded Minassian saw other people as “objects.”
Woodside, however, said this is a high-level view of moral reasoning that most people don’t normally do — in day-to-day life we just follow the rules and laws automatically, including the most universal rule: don’t kill other people.
And while Minassian does lack empathy and some ability to feel the emotions of other people, he has the intellectual capacity to work through moral decisions and has shown some ability to take the perspectives of other people, Woodside said. Minassian himself said he consciously chose to block out thoughts that would have stopped him from carrying out the attack — selfishly focusing only on his own goal and ignoring the consequences to anyone else, Woodside said.
And this was “not a complex moral dilemma,” Woodside said, nor were his actions impulsive.
Via a pre-written Facebook post sent during the attack, Minassian deliberately set a narrative — a connection to the misogynistic incel ideology and mass killer Elliot Rodger — to ensure maximum media attention and chose tactics to cause maximum carnage, Woodside said.
“I think it would require you to ignore everything Mr. Minassian has actually said when asked about his knowledge of what he did and whether it was wrong,” Woodside said, referring to the opposing view that Minassian didn’t know what he was doing was morally wrong.
Woodside also took issue with a central tenet of defence expert Westphal’s conclusion: that Minassian’s stated motives are incoherent and therefore the only explanation is that he had no comprehension of the impact his actions would have on other people.
Woodside said frequently fantasizing about mass murder and reading positive reinforcement of those ideas can lead to dehumanizing potential victims as a means to an end. But Minassian repeatedly said “this is something he really, really wanted to do,” and he provided a number of motivations behind that, Woodside said.
“Whether they represent the full picture of what really led him to act in this way, I’m not sure, but I think it would be dangerous to discount everything he actually says about why he commits this act,” Woodside said.
RELATED STORIES
He pointed to Minassian feeling lonely, rejected and most importantly not feeling hopeful about his future — where he saw himself failing at a new job, disappointing his family and being unemployed. He also said he wanted to “make his mark” and have his name live forever.
“Those are expressions to some extent of narcissism and grandiosity but they come from a place of, you know, loss and loneliness and rejection and a desire I think at least a bit of revenge on people… and society at large (who prevented him) from achieving the things he thinks are his due and that most of us do expect to achieve in life,” Woodside said.
Woodside said he saw no indication that Minassian had lost touch with reality or that his thinking was distorted in the way Dr. Westphal argued. He also said that while Minassian has trouble expressing emotion, it does not mean he is “devoid of emotion” internally, Woodside said.
Woodside also said that while some of Minassian’s social challenges are linked to his autism spectrum disorder, that does not explain all of it. Minassian was also very worried about failure, Woodside said.
Woodside also disputed the idea that Minassian was obsessed with mass murder, the incel ideology and the writings of another mass killer to the point that he was delusional or indoctrinated. Minassian was able to understand that incel ideology was flawed and was not, as with some people with autism who have extremely focused interests, able to only discuss that one subject, Woodside said.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
