Toronto spa killer pleads guilty to murder in deadly sword attack, cites van attacker as 'inspiration'

The accused in an incel-inspired attack at a Toronto massage parlour two years ago has pleaded guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder — citing the man responsible for the city's deadly van attack as "inspiration."

The accused, who was 17 at the time of the killing and cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, made his plea at Ontario Superior Court on Wednesday morning, where court heard he had been thinking of carrying out his violent actions for months.

Slumped forward with his head down, the accused spoke softly as he replied, "Yes," to the judge, who explained that pleading guilty would waive his rights to a trial and an appeal.

When his charges were read aloud, he answered plainly, "Guilty," to both.

Asked why he identified as an incel, the teen told police in a statement, "You don't choose to become an incel. You are born one."

Incel ideology or involuntary celibacy began as on online misogynistic subculture and is commonly characterized by a hatred or blame against women for an inability to find a romantic or sexual partner. The term gained widespread attention in 2018 when a man who posted about a so-called "incel rebellion" drove a van down a sidewalk in Toronto, killing 10 people and injuring 16 others. 

In his statement to police, the then-teen told police said he did not expect to be alive at the end of the day and thought police would have killed him.

"It wasn't worth it. My life is ruined now," he said.

He also noted he was scared of how other inmates might treat him behind bars. 

Court heard the accused was found with a hand-written note following the attack, reading: "Long live the rebellion of the incels."

As for why he was carrying the note, he told police, "I wanted everyone to find it. I wanted the world to know that people like us exist and it's not really fair."

The plea does not cover the associated terror charges against the accused, which were added in the months after the February 2020 killing of 24-year-old Ashley Noell Arzaga and stabbing of another man and woman at the Crown Spa in the city's west end.

The case is believed to mark the first time terror charges have ever been laid in connection with an act fuelled by incel ideology. The van attack killer, Alek Minassian, was never charged with terrorism. The judge who found him guilty noted that he mentioned in some interviews that he tied his actions to incel ideology for notoriety.

Court heard the teen used a nearly half a metre-long sword as a murder weapon, which was inscribed with the words "thot slayer" — "thot" being a derogatory term used against women.