An airsoft pistol, a machete, and 2 knives: Jury learns of items seized in pickup truck used during attack on a London, Ont. family

WARNING: The video and the details in this article may be disturbing to some viewers

The trial of Nathaniel Veltman, 22, continued in Windsor for his actions on June 6, 2021 that killed four people and seriously injured a fifth person.

In an agreed statement of facts, Veltman admitted he was behind the wheel of his Dodge Ram pickup truck that struck the Afzaal family while they waited to cross the street at the intersection of Hyde Park Road and South Carriage Road. 

Talat Afzaal, her son Salman, his wife Madiha, and their daughter Yumnah were all killed, while their nine-year-old son was seriously injured.

Veltman has previously pleaded not guilty to four counts of terrorism-motivated first-degree murder and one count of terrorism-motivated attempted murder.

In court on Monday, two forensic identification officers with the London Police Service testified.

Det. Const. Specialist Richard Veerman was tasked with taking photographs of the inside of Veltman’s truck as well as his downtown apartment.

Veerman walked the jury through the photographs he took of Veltmans’ apartment.

Although the bathroom and closet appear orderly, the main part of the studio apartment was dishevelled with clothing “strewn about” the room, according to Veerman.

The jury also noted most of the drawers in the kitchen and the dresser were pulled open with items inside exposed.

Police also photographed a laptop, two USB drives, a router and a cellphone on a charger.

Veerman photographed the pickup truck inside a secure area of a local towing service.

He removed the plastic evidence sheet which covered the front end of the truck, where the jury could see pink and green fabric “wedged” into the hood.

Det. Const. Chris Thomas told the jury he took pictures at both the scene of the collision as well as the damaged pickup truck in the shopping mall parking lot where Veltman turned himself into police.

He was simply taking pictures of where the evidence cones had been placed by traffic management officers.

The jury saw images of a line of blue cones, which appeared to denote the truck’s path as it left the roadway, drove along the sidewalk and grass, and then returned back to the street.

Federal prosecutor Sarah Shaikh also read two new agreed statements of facts for the jury.

The first one tied some of the Afzaal family members to the pickup truck.

Shaikh said Talat and Salman’s DNA were both identified on the hood of the truck while DNA from Madiha was identified on the push bar at the front of the truck.

The parties also agreed Madiha and Talat were wearing clothing that was a match for pieces of fabric found wedged in the hood of the truck.

In a second agreed statement of facts, the parties agree on what was recovered from inside Veltman’s truck: an airsoft pistol that looked like a black handgun, a six-inch serrated knife, a two-inch serrated knife with a curve, and 12-inch machete in the sheath.

Veltman’s driver’s licence and a financial institution card were also seized from the cup holder.

Evidence will continue Tuesday in Windsor’s superior court.