A psychiatric report that could lead to a dangerous offender label for Alexander Stavropoulos has not yet been completed, and is expected Nov. 5.
Stavropoulos, who appeared via CCTV from an Ottawa detention centre, pleaded guilty on Jan. 13 to two counts of attempted murder and one count of breach of probation.
His defence lawyers, Glenn Sandberg and Nicholas Xynnis, listened in via teleconference.
Assistant Crown attorney Leonard Kim said his office received an update Friday from the psychiatrist conducting the assessment, who advised the assessment isn’t complete, but they expect the report to be issued Nov. 5.
If Stavropoulos is labelled a dangerous offender, it carries an automatic sentence of imprisonment for an indeterminate period, with no chance of parole for seven years. The label is reserved for Canada's most violent criminals and sexual predators.
The matter has been adjourned until Nov. 12 for video remand to set another date.
Stavropoulos stabbed a 35-year-old woman multiple times and injured her eight-month-old baby in the parking lot of Michael's on June 3, 2019. At the time, he was under an order not to be in possession of knives outside of his home.
The attack was random, but it was focused on Stavropoulos' attempt to kill a young white girl, he said. The court heard he was “out to murder a little white girl,” and that he wanted it to be a child.
Stavropoulos told police in a recorded interview he was sexually frustrated and angry with “white women” because they wouldn't have sex with him. He labelled himself as “incel,” or involuntarily celibate.
He said he took some inspiration from an April 2018 incident in Toronto when a man named Alek Minassian drove a rented van in a crowd of pedestrians, killing 10 people as a result.
As a result, on June 3, he said he was “out to murder a little white girl,” and that he wanted it to be a child.
Stavropoulos had been thinking about it for months, he told police. Then, on June 3, he took a bus to the Silver Hills area. His plan was to buy a hunting knife, but settled on a four-pack of utility knives from Home Depot. In the parking lot of Home Depot, he took two of the knives out of the package and threw the rest on the ground.
He went over to the parking lot in front of the Michael's on Marcus Drive and waited. He told police he wasn't sure how long he had waited, but it was between one and two hours. He had even entered Old Navy, exited, sat on the grass for a while, and watched as people passed him by.
The victim and her two children arrived at about 3:30 p.m. She went into Michael's and exited about 10 minutes later.
Stavropoulos told police he had been waiting for the “right opportunity,” and when he saw the victim with her two young daughters, “something clicked” in his head.
“I told myself, 'Don't be a pussy,'” he told police.
He approached her from behind as she was buckling her three-year-old daughter into her car seat. He said he just started stabbing her. He said he was surprised by how hard she fought back.
He then turned his attention to the baby. The baby was his real target, he told police, but in order to get to the baby, he first had to take out the mother.
Stavropoulos told officers he made several attempts to stab the baby, but wasn't sure if he had managed to do so.
“I tried to stab the child, I'm not denying that,” he told police.
He told police that during the stabbing, he wasn't “psychotic” or experiencing any kind of “psychosis,” nor did he feel remorse for his actions. If given the chance again, he said he wasn't sure if he would or wouldn't do it again.
The victim sustained three serious stab wounds, as well as two smaller wounds, all of which led to “profuse, high-pressure bleeding,” said Kim, citing the report from physicians who performed surgery. She suffered from a “rapid and voluminous loss of blood” that would have resulted in her death if left untreated.
During the proceedings on Jan. 13, the Crown played two 911 calls from two different witnesses, including Brent Holder, who confronted Stavropoulos in the parking lot. He told Sudbury.com all about what happened that day. To watch the video, click here.
When Stavropoulos saw Holder approaching, he backed off from his attack, because he thought Holder was an undercover police officer. He also thought Holder was carrying a gun.
Other witnesses attended to the mom, and it's thanks to their help she survived the ordeal, said doctors in their report. Had medical intervention not happened in the parking lot, she likely would have bled out.
The Crown is seeking a Dangerous Offender registry ruling against Stavropoulos. He will return to video remand court on Jan. 23.
Stavropoulos was under an order not to be in possession of knives stemming from an April 2018 incident at the downtown transit terminal. He was shot by police after he charged at officers.
He was holding two knives at the time. For that story, click here.