Afzaal Family Murder: Accused Was ‘Smiling’ After Arrest, Court Hears
Det. Const. Matthew Hietkamp was one of the first officers to interact with Nathaniel Veltman, 22, who is facing four counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, and terrorism charges. Hietkamp told the court that Veltman was trying to make eye contact with people in other cars as he was taken by police cruiser to London police headquarters from the Cherryhill Mall parking lot where he was arrested.
"He was happy, smiling, looking around. He appeared giddy — that's what I saw," Hietkamp said. "He [Veltman] was wearing a white T-shirt with a cross spray painted on it, construction-style jeans and steel-toed boots," CBC quoted him as saying.
Hietkamp followed the officer who transported Veltman to downtown police headquarters and searched him before he was booked. He said the boots were removed because they could be used as a weapon.
The court also heard from Const. Patti Leavoy-Costa, who arrived at the mall parking lot shortly before Hietkamp. She said Veltman was tense and restless, and was yelling at no one in particular.
"He was causing a scene, so to speak," she said.
Leavoy-Costa noted the extensive front-end damage to Veltman's black Dodge Ram pickup truck, which was smoking in the parking lot. She said she saw a piece of fabric wedged in the hood of the truck.
Veltman is accused of driving his truck into five members of the Afzaal family, who were out for an evening walk near their home in London. Yumnah Afzaal, 15, her parents, Madiha Salman, 44, and Salman Afzaal, 46, and family matriarch Talat Afzaal, 74, were killed. A boy who was nine years old at the time survived.
The Crown prosecutors allege that Veltman was motivated by far-right ideology and targeted Muslims that night. In earlier testimony, the court heard that Veltman told police he was angry about "minority on white" crime.
The trial, which is expected to last eight weeks, began on Sept. 11 and was moved to Windsor before it started. It will resume on Monday.
Source: Agencies
