Nathaniel Veltman murder trial: A recap of week 6

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

The Nathaniel Veltman murder trial continued for a shortened sixth week and saw the accused take the stand in his own defence.

Here’s what you missed.

 

MONDAY, OCTOBER 9

The jury was off for several days for the Thanksgiving long weekend, with the trial now in the hands of the defence after the Crown rested its case on Oct. 5

 

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10 AND WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the jury did not sit and no evidence was heard. The judge and lawyers were in attendance however discussing legal matters subject to a publication ban.

 

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12

Veltman took the stand Thursday in a Windsor, Ont. courtroom in his ongoing murder trial, being the first witness called by the defence.

“I didn't know how to connect with people, I didn't have any social skills,” Veltman testified Thursday. "I didn't have a normal upbringing."

The jury learned Veltman was home-schooled by his mother from kindergarten until grade 11. He described his mother as “extremely religious” and strict.

According to Veltman, he and his five siblings had no connection to anyone outside their church, based in Strathroy, Ont.

By the age of 12 or 13, Veltman said he started to realize he wasn’t “normal.”

“Most of my abnormal behaviour I attributed to being home schooled,” Veltman said.

Veltman told the jury his mother wouldn’t take him to speak to a “secular therapist” for fear it would further ruin his mind. She relied instead on Bible scriptures.

His parents separated when Veltman was 15 years old, and Veltman told the jury he moved out of his house two weeks after he turned 16.

After years of begging, Veltman said his mother eventually agreed to let him go to a public high school, but once there, he said it was difficult to fit in.

“I had difficulty making connections,” he said. “I was an outcast.”

Veltman testified all day Thursday but at no point was he asked about his actions on June 6, 2021 — the day he has already admitted to the jury, he drove into the Afzaal family while they waited to cross Hyde Park Road at South Carriage Road.

 

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13

Veltman returned to the stand for a second day on Friday, and explained his history of suicidal thoughts and drug usage, specifically psilocybin, which is commonly referred to as magic mushrooms.

"I had reached a point where I was so deranged, but I convinced myself I was fine," Veltman told the jury about his mental state in the spring of 2021.

At the time, Veltman testified he was addicted to viewing “far right political content” and “extremely outlandish and offensive jokes,” and was spending more and more of his time online, accessing offensive content and videos using the dark web.

The websites he accessed focused on alleged censorship by mainstream media of what Veltman referred to as minority on white crime.

“This content started to warp my view of the world,” Veltman told the jury. “It filled me with a loathing of society, loathing of the world.”

Veltman also told the jury he made two unsuccessful attempts at suicide.

“I was barely holding on, trying to function normally,” he said.

Veltman admitted some of the content he viewed — specifically a shooting video made by a New Zealand man — was shocking at first, but after watching it repeatedly he became “desensitized.”

He told the jury he would get into “fits of rage” while looking at online conspiracy theories.

“I said, 'I’m going to commit an act of violence,'” he testified late Friday.

Veltman’s grandmother died on June 4, 2021, and he admitted to the jury he didn’t react well to “seeing the body.”

He testified he consumed the hallucinogenic psilocybin — commonly referred to as magic mushrooms — in the early morning hours of June 5, 2021.

The jury was excused for the weekend by Justice Renee Pomerance, who asked the jury to return at 2:15 p.m. on Oct. 16.