Toronto van attack suspect hit with three more charges

The van that jumped a curb and struck pedestrians in Toronto on Monday. - Copyright Aaron Vincent Elkaim

By Corky Siemaszko with NBC News World News

Published on 10/05/2018 - 18:16

Alek Minassian now faces 10 counts of murder and 16 attempted murder charges

The Canadian man accused of using a van to mow down a mostly female group of pedestrians at a busy Toronto intersection was hit Thursday with three new attempted murder charges.

Alek Minassian, who was linked to online misogynist group after the mayhem last month that left 10 people dead and 15 more injured, did not enter a plea during his brief appearance by video from his cell.

The 25-year-old now faces 10 counts of murder and 16 counts of attempted murder at his next scheduled appearance, which is on Sept. 14.

So far, Canadian authorities have not divulged a motive, but eight of the 10 people killed on April 23 were women. And police have revealed that Minassian posted about on internet forums that attract sexually-frustrated men known as "incels" — for involuntary celibate — who hate women.

Defense attorney Boris Bytensky insisted again that Minassian has no ties to terrorism.

"I don't think there's anybody suggesting this was terrorism," he said. "There were a lot of people who were terrified."

Bytensky also declined to discuss on Minassian's state of mind. "This is not a time to discuss Mr. Minassian, this a still a grieving period for the city," he said.

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