Convicted killer of Muslim family in London, Ont., terror case is seeking an appeal, lawyer says

Warning: This story contains disturbing details.

The 23-year-old man convicted of murder in the 2021 attack on a Muslim family in London, Ont. in what the judge called a "textbook" case of terrorism is seeking to appeal his convictions, his lawyer says.

Word of the appeal move comes less than two months after Nathaniel Veltmanwas sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 yearsin the June 6, 2021, attack. It left four members of the Afzaal family deadand aboy, who was nine years old at the time, injured and orphaned.

Yumnah Afzaal, 15, her parentsMadiha Salman, 44, an engineer,and Salman Afzaal, 46, a physiotherapistwere killed, as was family matriarch Talat Afzaal, 74, a teacher and artist.

Veltmanwas convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murderin November following a 10-week jury trial in Windsor. His sentencing hearings, in London, wereheld earlier this year.

WATCH | Relatives of the Afzaal familyreact to judge's terror label in 2021 attack:

Afzaal family's murder textbook terrorism, judge rules

7 months ago

Duration 2:21

A judge in London, Ont., ruled the actions of the man who ran down a Muslim family with his truck in 2021, killing four people, were a textbook example of terrorist motive and intent.' Nathaniel Veltman was already sentenced to life in prison for murdering four members of the Afzaal family.

Defence lawyer Christopher Hicks said Mondayhis client has filed aninmate notice of appeal with the court to extend his appeal deadline past 30 daysand that a solicitor's notice of appeal will be filed within a month or two.

A notice of appealhas to be approved by a court in order for it to proceed.

"Why would we want to retrial? Well, we think, first of all, we think he was wrongfully convicted," Hicks told CBC News.

Lawyer outlines reasons for appeal attempt

Hicks believes they have "very arguable grounds" for an appeal, includingthat a statement Veltman gave to investigators shouldn't have been admitted to trial,and Crown prosecutors addressed jurors in a way that was "unfair and prejudicial."

"It was ongoing until objection was made by the trial judge, so [Peter]Ketchesonand I are very interested in that as well," he said, referring to the convicted man'sother lawyer.

"It takes about a year to two years to get an appeal heard in the Court of Appeal, so it'll take that long. If we are successful, there are two possible outcomes from an appeal, but the most likely one here, the only likely one, is a new trial."

The Afzaals wereout for an evening walk in the area of Hyde Park and South Carriage roads when they were struck by a pickup truck driven by Veltman, according to an agreed statement of facts from the trial.

At a sentencing hearing in February, Superior Court Justice Renee Pomerance told the court that his actions on that day constituted terrorist activityand she refused to refer to the convicted killer by his name. The case markedthe first time terror charges were considered under Canadian law against someone following a white nationalist ideology.

The Crown had argued Veltman was motivated bypolitical, ideological or religious ideas when he drove his truck into the familyand that he had targeted the Afzaals because of their Muslim faith.

The defence lawyers argued their client didn't intend to kill the familyand made a case for him to be convicted of manslaughter instead.

'Much work to be done to address hatred'

After the guilty verdict was handed down,Tabinda Bukhari, Madiha Salman's mother, told reporters the attack wasn't just a crime against the Muslim community, but "rather an attack against the safety and security of all Canadians."

"Thistrial and verdict are a reminder there is still much work to be done to addresshatred in all forms that lives in our communities," Bukhari said.

During thesentencing hearing in January, the convicted mantold court he couldn't "undothis pain and suffering. I cannot turn back time. ... I plan to take every opportunity available to me to better myself."

"Over the course of the days, months and years following June 6, I have not fully grasped but I have seen the extent of the pain and suffering that my actions have caused."

Retraumatization is very real and would be in play again if ...a year and a half, two years from now, we're going through a second trial.- Nawaz Tahir, lawyer and member of Hikma

That apology makes news of the appeal surprising toNawaz Tahir, a London lawyer and a member of Hikma, a London-based Muslim advocacy group.

Tahir said it was believed the sentencing decision would finally bring some legal closure for the family, and his heart aches for the relatives who may have to go through the trial all over again.

"You think you've processed something, and then all of a sudden, two years later, you're reliving things and going through things in a lot more detail and hearing things that you never thought you'd hear," he said of the initial trial.

"Retraumatization is very real and would be in play again if ...a year and a half, two years from now, we're going through a second trial."

WATCH | Family of the Afzaals rejectconvicted killer's apology:

Afzaal family members reject killer's apology

8 months ago

Duration 1:25

Relatives of the family killed in a 2021 London, Ont., truck attack said the convicted killer's apology at a sentencing hearing Tuesday came too late and rang hollow. 'This is one more strategy in a series of ploys that have not stopped for two and a half years,' said Hina Islam, aunt of Madiha Salman, who was one of the four people killed.

Just over a month after the attack, the National Council of Canadian Muslims issued 60 policy recommendationsin advance of a national summit on Islamophobia, aimed at addressing hate and racism in Canada.

As the three-year anniversary of the attack approaches, Tahir said,many of the recommendations remain unfulfilled.

"Certainly the City of London has come through with a comprehensive plan to combat Islamophobia, but provincially and federally, the response has been lacking."

A private member's bill, the Our London Family Act, was tabled in the Ontario Legislature in 2022, but died on the order paper when that year's election was called.