ISIS supporter pleads guilty to killing Toronto woman with hammer | Globalnews.ca

A Toronto man who approached a woman on a sidewalk and killed her with a hammer last year pleaded guilty Thursday to murder and terrorism, admitting he did it for the so-called Islamic State.

In an agreed statement of facts, Saad Akhtar said he left his home at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 21, 2020 carrying two notes pledging allegiance to ISIS and intending to kill as many people as possible.

Akhtar said approached a random victim, Annie Hang-Kam Chiu, punched her to the ground and used a steel hammer he had bought at Canadian Tire to smash her skull as she lay on her back.

He then placed a note next to her that read: “Islamic State Baquiya,” an ISIS slogan. The second note, found later in his backpack, read: “This is for the Islamic State, & all the crimes against Muslims. God is great!”

He was sentenced to life with no eligibility for parole for 25 years. The case marks Canada’s first conviction for the crime of “murder, terrorist activity,” the Public Prosecution Service of Canada said.

Akhtar said he had been planning a killing since 2019, but after murdering Hang-Kam Chiu, he decided to turn himself in.

He walked into Toronto Police 22 Division at 9:50 p.m. that night.

He was covered in blood and carrying a bag. He told officers he had just killed a woman and was arrested, according to the agreed facts entered into the Ontario court record.

The police station was evacuated when police found what they thought was a bomb in his bag, but it turned out to be aerosol cans bound together, which he had intended to set alight if he was caught.

Police found the hammer at a bus shelter.

During a subsequent two-and-a-half interview at Toronto Police 41 Division, Akhtar said he chose his victim because she was “alone, not strong and was the appropriate height to be attacked with a hammer.”

More to come…