University of Waterloo stabber's COVID-19 isolation may have worsened his mental state, sentencing court told

Defence lawyers in the sentencing hearing for the former student who went on a stabbing rampage at the University of Waterloo last year are asking the judge to consider his mental state — which a psychologist testified may have further deteriorated during pandemic isolation.

On Tuesday, Dr. Smita Vir Tyagi, a forensic and clinical psychologist retained by the defence, presented a report on Geovanny Villalba Aleman to the court in Kitchener, Ont.

In speaking to Villalba Aleman during several sessions, Tyagi said she learned he had a poor sense of self-worth and found social interactions to be stressful. She has also diagnosed him with bipolar disorder, adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Tyagi testified on the third day of the week-long sentencing, which began Monday with victim impact statements, including from associate professor Katherine Fulfer and the two students who were stabbed during a gender-studies class in Hagey Hall in June 2023.

WATCH | Intent of ex-student's actions discussed during sentencing hearing Tuesday:

On Tuesday, the Crown detailed the four assault-related charges he pleaded guilty to this June, as well as terror-related offences that are being considered as part of sentencing.

Campus-goers still feel unsafe, Crown says

In commenting on Tyagi's findings, Crown attorney Althea Francis told the hearing in the Ontario Court of Justice that there may be a correlation between his mental condition and his choice to carry out the attack, but there was no direct causation.

Francis said many people on the university campus still feel unsafe because of the attack and Villalba Aleman's ideology, which he outlined in his manifesto.

Justice Frances Brennan reminded the court that Villalba Aleman's political ideology is not on trial.

"The court here is not to sentence his views," Brennan said. "It is to sentence his conduct ... the willingness to act out violently."

In response, defence lawyer Mel Edwardh called on Tyagi to testify virtually.

The psychologist said she found Villalba Aleman to have poor self-worth, except for when it comes to his academic achievements, which give him pride.

She noted he has had a long history of self-harm, with reoccurring hair pulling, punching himself in the stomach and slapping himself on his face.

Tyagi said he had come largely unprepared to cope with migration and university life as an international student, and as a result, he failed several courses, which compounded his feelings of unworthiness.

Strictly online courses during the pandemic further isolated him from professors and other people, worsening his academic standing and deepening his depression, Tyagi said.

In addition to his deteriorating mental state, she said, he had financial difficulties and suffered from food insecurity while a student at the University of Waterloo.

She said he began to develop delusions that specific individuals on campus were stamping out free speech and felt like he had to personally do something about it.

Tyagi said those elements may have disconnected him from reality, leading to a psychotic break.

Under cross-examination by Crown attorney Armin Sethi, Tyagi said her role is only to tell the court what psychological factors were in play in the months leading up to the event — not to determine his moral culpability during the attack.