Canadian man convicted of killing 21-year-old Indian student and 1 other

In a verdict delivered by Ontario Superior Court Justice Jane Kelly, the convict, Richard Jonathan Edwin, was found guilty of first-degree murder. He was arrested and charged by Toronto Police in April 2022 in relation with the killings of Kartik Vasudev and Elijah Eleazar Mahepath.

Edwin, who was earlier diagnosed with schizophrenia, had pleaded not guilty and sought a not-criminally-responsible defence, but the judge ruled that his conduct “appeared rational, methodical, and organised,” according to the decision cited by CBC News.

Justice Kelly said, “I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the murders of Mr Vasudev and Mr Mahepath were planned and deliberate.”

Kartik Vasudev, who was studying management at Seneca College in Toronto at the time, was the first victim. The incident occurred at approximately 5pm on April 7 that year.

Vasudev was found shot near an entrance to the Sherbourne station of the Toronto Transit Corporation or TTC. An off-duty paramedic gave him medical treatment but Vasudev did not survive. He “had sustained multiple gun shot wounds and was taken to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries,” the police said at the time. The incident was deemed a homicide.

Vasudev, who was from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, was a first-semester marketing management student at Seneca College.

Two days later, on April 9, at approximately 7pm, police said the accused allegedly approached the second victim, Mahepath, who was walking along a street in downtown Toronto and “discharged multiple rounds striking the victim. Again, he fled the scene on foot.”

Toronto Police arrested Edwin a few days later and charged him with the two murders.

Then Toronto police chief James Ramer had told the media, “Any death is tragic, but these men were completely innocent, and their murders were absolutely random acts of violence.” An “arsenal” of weapons was found at his apartment in the city, though these were legally procured.