In the court, the accused confessed to shooting 21 year old student Vasudev.

Ghaziabad. A Toronto court has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for the murder of Indian student Karthik Vasudev, rejecting the accused’s plea that he is not criminally responsible due to mental disorder. The student’s family gave this information on Tuesday.

Toronto’s Superior Court, headed by Justice Jane Kelly, on Monday convicted Richard Edwin of two counts of ‘first-degree murder’ (murder committed under conspiracy) for the killing of two strangers on April 7 and 9, 2022, Global News Toronto reported.

Edwin admitted to shooting Vasudev, a 21-year-old resident of Ghaziabad and a student of Seneca College, but the defense argued that the accused was suffering from mental illness and could not differentiate between right and wrong, hence he should not be held criminally responsible (NCR).

The court admitted that Edwin was suffering from ‘schizophrenia’ at the time of the incident, but rejected NCR’s argument and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Published in ‘Global News Toronto’ and the victim’s father told news agency PTI that Vasudev was walking from Sherborne Station towards the stairs of Bloor Street East when Edwin passed him, then turned back and fired several bullets at Vasudev’s back. He told that he and his wife stayed in Canada to attend the final hearing.

“After four years of legal battle, we finally got justice,” he said. Vasudev had gone to Toronto to study management in January 2022, but was murdered within a few months. Vasudev’s body was later brought to Ghaziabad, where his younger brother performed the last rites on the banks of the Hindon River.

Jitesh Vasudev had expressed concern over the lack of adequate government assistance during transportation of the body from Indira Gandhi International Airport and the absence of district administration officials at the time of the last rites. The family lives in Rajendra Nagar and Vasudev was an alumnus of the local DAV school.

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