Details of alleged killer’s purchase of pickup truck used in attack on Muslim family laid out for jurors

Kate Dubinski · CBC News

· Posted: Sep 28, 2023 4:43 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 hours ago

Note: This story contains distressing details.

Two forensic analysts testified at the trial of Nathaniel Veltman about the electronic devices they found in the accused’s apartment in London, Ont., as well as documents related to the purchase of a Dodge Ram pickup truck that was used to kill members of the Afzaal family in June 2021.

Veltman, 22, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder, as well as terrorism counts. Prosecutors allege he intentionally drove into the Muslim family of five on June 6  that year, in an act motivated by far-right ideology. 

“I found a bill of sale for a Dodge pickup truck,” London police Sgt Jason Eddy told the murder-trial in Ontario Superior Court in Windsor.

Eddy was testifying about a search he participated in of the accused’s downtown bachelor apartment on June 12, six days after the attack. 

The attack killed Yumnah Afzaal, 15, her parents Madiha Salman, 44, and Salman Afzaal, 46, and family matriarch Talat Afzaal, 74. A nine-year-old boy survived. They had been out for an evening walk.

The bill of sale was found in an open drawer of a dresser in the apartment. It is dated May 11, 2021, with a delivery date of May 19, 2021, according to the document shown to the jury. 

The papers include warranty documents, a vehicle history report from CARFAX, financing documents from TD Bank and two smaller receipts. 

The documents show the truck cost just over $27,000, but with a 12 per cent interest loan, the accused would end up paying more than $36,000 over six years. He also purchased a one-year extended warranty, a fact his defence lawyer highlighted for the jury.

“He got a vehicle and he got an extended warranty for the vehicle,” defence lawyer Christopher Hicks pointed out during his cross-examination of the officer. 

Laptop, other electronics seized

Earlier in the day, Eddy, who has overseen the London police forensic identification unit for the last five years, testified he and Det. Const. Michael Comeau took an Acer Aspire laptop, a Samsung Galaxy S8 cellphone, two USB thumb drives and an external hard drive from the accused’s apartment. 

The officers testified they tried to unlock the laptop with the password provided to them — STUPID123123 — but were unsuccessful. They created digital copies of the electronics to preserve the original evidence. 

“Forensic examiners in our unit are responsible for assisting all investigations with electronics, including computers, cellphones and storage devices. We help with search warrants, seizing evidence, making a copy and giving results,” Eddy said. 

He also made another copy for an external investigator who analyzed the electronics, Sgt. Liu Guan of the Windsor Police Service. 

The trial, which is at the end of its third week of testimony, is now on a break until Tuesday, when the Crown is expected to call its next witness.

The trial is expected to last eight weeks.