Ex-student attacked University of Waterloo gender-studies class to 'instil fear,' sentencing hearing told

WARNING: This story contains disturbing details.

Federal prosecutors at the sentencing hearing of a former student who went on a stabbing rampage at the University of Waterloo in southern Ontario last year told court on Tuesday that his actions were ideologically motivated.

On Tuesday, the second day of proceedings for Geovanny Villalba-Aleman, 25, federal Crown attorney Howard Piafsky detailed the assault-related charges, which he had pleaded guilty to, as well as terror-related offences that are being considered as part of sentencing. 

Villalba-Aleman pleaded guilty in June to four assault-related charges in the stabbing of two students and Katherine Fulfer, an associate professor, in Hagey Hall in June 2023.

Piafsky said Villalba-Aleman acted "to instil fear into his perceived enemies."

One of the key components of terrorism under Canadian law is that the act must have been committed for a political, religious or ideological purpose.

The maximum penalty for the federal charges against him is life in prison. Prosecutors are looking to get 16 years. 

On Monday, the first day of the week-long sentencing hearing in Kitchener, statements from Fulfer and the students who were victimized by Villalba Aleman were read in court.

Ex-student says attack 'wasn't personal'

On Tuesday, court heard from Villalba-Aleman through his police interview, recorded the day of the attack. 

Villalba Aleman is seen dressed in a white jumpsuit, sitting at a small table, beside an officer, in the middle of a room. Villalba Aleman detailed the attack and said it was never his intention to kill anyone. 

"It wasn't personal," he said at the beginning of the interview. He later added he "just wanted to protect the freedom of academia."

Villalba Aleman is a recent graduate who came to Canada in 2018 to enrol in the physics program at the University of Waterloo. After graduating a little later than usual, he told the officer, he was focused on getting work experience before going on to pursue his master's degree. 

Over time, he said, he grew concerned with the ideology being taught in gender-studies courses. He said "woke" ideology was being forced upon classes.

'He wanted the world to know'

During their address to the court, Piafsky and fellow federal prosecutor Althea Francis noted multiple other legal precedents and repeatedly referenced the case of Nathaniel Veltman, the man who killed four members of a Muslim family in London, Ont., and severely injured a fifth in a hate-motivated attack in June 2021.

The prosecutors in the Villalba-Aleman case discussed his intent and how he chose to post a manifesto on two websites, including Discord, before carrying out the attack.

"It's not a mystery why he wanted to commit the attack," Piafsky told the judge. "In fact, he wanted the world to know."

Francis brought up the attacker's choice of weapons — two eight-inch serrated knives — and how he had first tried to get a bow and arrow before deciding it would be too hard to operate or hide.

She referenced Villalba-Aleman's body language as he told a police officer how he started out his day before the attack, waking up at 2 a.m. to do laundry before getting on his bike about an hour later to ride to the University of Waterloo.

"There was no indication in the interview with the officer that it was a bad day," Francis said to the judge. "It was just a regular day [for Villalba-Aleman]."

She noted how in the video interview with the Waterloo regional police officer, Villalba-Aleman had indicated he'd been thinking of carrying out the attack since around April or May of 2023.

"I didn't want to kill just to kill," he told the officer, later adding it was always part of his plan to surrender to police. "The objective was not to stab deep."

Francis said Villalba-Aleman's comment to the officer — that he never intended to kill anyone — were self-serving because he had clearly laid out an intent to kill in the manifesto he posted online before carrying out the attack.

The lawyers have also begun to analyze and discuss findings from a psychological report done on Villalba-Aleman. 

So far, they've spoken about the portion of the report that gets into Villalba-Aleman's upbringing.

When the hearing continues, they'll discuss whether he has a condition that could have contributed to his decision to carry out the attack.