'I saw something fly thirty or forty feet in the air': Witness to crash testifies at Nathaniel Veltman murder trial

A London, Ont. woman who witnessed the crash that killed three generations of a Muslim family testified at the murder trial of Nathaniel Veltman, and told the jury she heard a loud revving of an engine seconds before they were run over.

Lindsay Marshall was reading a book and sitting on the balcony of her apartment on South Carriage Road near Hyde Park Road in June of 2021 when something grabbed her attention.

“I heard an engine rev...I looked up and saw a black pickup truck travelling south,” she said.

Marshall continued, “I saw the truck speed up and go on the sidewalk...I saw something fly thirty or forty feet in the air...I thought it was a sign or mailbox.”

She told the court she was standing about a football field-and-a-half away from the site and after police arrived, “The officer was performing CPR on the person...I saw some other people gather around tending to another person.”

While waiting to give a police statement on the day of the incident, she told the jury she was shaken by what she saw.

“I was standing there for about an hour in shock, in disbelief...I texted my family that I thought I witnessed a hit-and-run,” Marshall testified.

Later she would come to learn that four members of the Afzaal family, mother Madiha, father Salman, 15-year-old daughter Yumnah and grandmother Talat were killed in the crash that took place on June 6, 2021.

The lone survivor was a nine-year-old son who has since recovered from his injuries and is now in the care of relatives.

Within minutes of the crash, London police arrested and charged Veltman in a shopping mall parking lot approximately four kilometres away.

The accused, who is now 22 years old, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

Later in the day the jury was shown video of Veltman just moments after his arrest as he’s placed in a cell at London Police Service Headquarters.

Defence lawyer Christopher Hicks told the court that he is going to show approximately four hours of the video.

In the video, Veltman was seen wearing a white T-shirt, with a black cross on it and no shoes. He told officers that he had not consumed anything, and appeared to be breathing heavily.

The Crown’s case resumes on Thursday.