Calgary couple stabbed in unprovoked attack while toddler slept, court hears during guilty plea

A terrifying, unprovoked and violent attack on a Calgary couple was described in a courtroom Friday afternoon asQisong Zhou pleaded guilty to aggravated assault on his roommates.

In August 2016,Zhou, 52, was living with the couple in a basement suite in the city's northeast.

Without warning or reason, and with the couple's three-year-old son sleeping in the next room, Zhou ambushed the husband as he sat eating breakfast. He began stabbingXianne Guan in the neck with a pair of scissors, according to prosecutor Todd Buziak.

Hearing her husband's cries, YanhongChen came into the room, saw Guan covered in blood and pushed Zhou away.

• Huntington Hills stabbing suspect accused of using scissors in near-fatal attack on roommates

An elderly couple who lived upstairs heard noises and came down, which distracted Zhou, allowing the victims toretreated to theirbedroom, where their son was sleeping.

As the neighbours returned to their unit and called police,Zhou broke part of the flimsy bedroom door and was able tostab Chen in the face through the hole he'd created.

Zhou fled but was arrested the next day.

The only hint at a motive was Zhou's deteriorating mental state; he'd recently shown signs of depression, had stopped showing up for work and has since told his lawyer he felt isolated and suicidal.

"I wish I had an explanation for my client's behaviour," said Adriano Iovinelli.

Zhou had moved to Canada four years earlier with his wife and stepson, but she had returned to China to deal with her immigration status. He knew nobody besides the couple he was living with.

"He lost it," said Iovinelli of his client, who has never shown any signs of violence prior to the attack. "He lost control."

In their victim impact statements, the husband and wife said they suffered serious physical wounds and also described feeling scared and traumatized following the stabbing.

4-yearsentence

The attack also took a financial toll on the family; they don't have health insurance, and Guan, the breadwinner, was not able to work for a timeafter he was injured.

Zhou does not speak English and communicated through a Mandarin interpreter at Friday's hearing. Through the interpreter he said he wants to stay in Canada and "will behave." His wife and church elder were in the courtroom to support Zhou.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Beth Hughes accepted a plea deal negotiated by defence lawyers Iovinelli and Edith Thai andprosecutor Buziak.

Originally charged with two counts of attempted murder, Zhou pleaded guilty to two charges of the lesser offence of aggravated assault.

Hughes also accepted a joint submission for a four-year sentence.