Woman convicted in Valentine's Day Halifax mall plot denied parole
Lindsay Souvannarath, 33, was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to life for her part in a plot to stage a Valentine's Day massacre in the food court of the mall in 2015.
Souvannarath has been in custody since the day before the planned attack. She was arrested at Halifax Stanfield International Airport when she arrived on a flight from her home in Illinois.
An anonymous tip to Facebook the day before had alerted Canadian border officials to the plan and even provided a description of Souvannarath.
She had been in online correspondence with a 19-year-old Halifax man, James Gamble, in the weeks leading up to the planned attack.
According to the Parole Board of Canada, the plan was for Gamble to kill his parents in their suburban Halifax home, then he and Souvannarath would spend the night there before heading to the mall the next day: Feb. 14, or Valentine's Day.
But police, acting on the anonymous tip, surrounded the Gamble home and reached out to James Gamble by phone. He talked to police, but then killed himself as police moved in. His parents were not harmed.
While their plan was thwarted before they could carry it out, Souvannarath and Gamble intended to sow panic and confusion by throwing Molotov cocktails around the mall, then shoot people trying to flee, according to authorities.
They planned to use a rifle and shotgun belonging to Gamble's father and they would save ammunition to kill themselves at the end of the shooting spree. The Parole Board found that the pair also planned to post online media updates on Feb. 15, the day after the massacre.
There was a third conspirator, Randall Shepherd, who was a friend of Gamble's. He refused to take part in the actual shooting, but he bought supplies and was arrested along with Souvannarath at the airport. He was also convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to 10 years.
While Souvannarath has taken part in programs while an inmate, the Parole Board questioned whether she has learned anything and was willing to apply it.
"The board is not satisfied that you have internalized the skills that you were taught in programming to mitigate your risk," the board wrote in its decision to deny her parole.
"You have made conscious decisions to deceive people about your thoughts that support radicalized violence."
During her time in custody, the board noted, she has given interviews with a Halifax-based podcaster and exchanged messages with an American neo-Nazi the Canadian government classifies as a terrorist.
The board said Souvannarath had a relationship with the podcaster spanning four years and when she gave him an ultimatum to choose her or his wife and children, he chose his wife.
She did not take that well, the board said, and she voiced anger toward married women with children.
"I am not looking for love … I'd much rather look for married men so I can destroy the lives of as many mommies as I possibly can. It feels good to have a new enemy," the board quoted Souvannarath as writing.
As recently as March of last year, a search of her cell revealed notebooks and drawings depicting violent scenes and Nazi symbols.
Souvannarath was proposing that she be released to her parents who still live in Illinois. She has been under a deportation order since 2018 that remains active.
If she is released, she is to be immediately sent back to the United States. But at the conclusion of a parole hearing last month, the board felt that release shouldn't happen now.
"[Correctional Service of Canada] is recommending the board deny full parole," the decision reads.
"Given your low reintegration potential, your lack of plan adequate to manage your risk for violent recidivism, your assessed risk, institutional behaviour, and ongoing indicators of risk related to attitude, poor emotions management and associates, CSC does not believe your risk is manageable on conditional release."
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