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Toronto Sun
6 days ago
- Toronto Sun
MANDEL: Mentally ill man with history of stabbing strangers convicted of murder
Davy Balan, 58, had been found not criminally responsible twice before for stabbing three random strangers Get the latest from Michele Mandel straight to your inbox Davy Balan was found guilty of first-degree murder in the June 2023 stabbing death of Maxim Karyakin. Photo by Superior Court of Justice On the last day of June 2023, Maxim Karyakin was simply walking near Cedarbrae Mall when a stranger suddenly plunged a knife into his heart. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The beloved 30-year-old died 40 minutes later in a hospital. Two days later, Toronto Police arrested Davy Balan, a divorced father of three who suffers from schizophrenia and more shockingly had been found not criminally responsible twice before for stabbing three random strangers who luckily survived. Balan, 58, tried again to plead NCR but in a ruling delivered Wednesday, Superior Court Justice Jane Kelly found he was not only criminally responsible for the fatal stabbing, but it was a planned and deliberate murder. 'I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Balan planned to kill a stranger that day by stabbing them. He deliberated on that plan. He carried out his plan by stabbing and killing Mr. Karyakin, a stranger to him,' Kelly said in finding him guilty of first-degree murder. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Stabbing victim Maxim Karyakin, 30, of Toronto. Balan, who was being treated with anti-psychotic medication for schizophrenia, was under the supervision of nurses from the Canadian Mental Health Association stepped care team since 2018. Court heard he'd recently quit his job at the LCBO, but was otherwise stable. The nurses made a home visit just two days before the murder and reported he seemed to be his 'normal self' with only mild symptoms of his mental illness. 'Other than the senseless killing of Mr. Karyakin, Mr. Balan exhibited no bizarre behaviour immediately before, during or after the killing,' Kelly said. 'There is no evidence that Mr. Balan was preoccupied by any auditory hallucinations or delusions. It appears that Mr. Balan had a plan. He equipped himself with the tools to execute the plan. He brought a knife with him into the vehicle and a change of clothes.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. According to the agreed statement, Balan drove from his Tuxedo Crt. apartment at 11:46 a.m. that June day and parked at Cedarbrae Mall. He loitered under a tree near the intersection and appeared to be approaching one victim until the man changed direction. Two minutes later, Balan targeted Karyakin, who was walking along Crusader St., and without warning stabbed the poor man once in the heart 'with force.' Read More Balan then jogged back to his car and headed home, according to the statement, discarding the blood-stained kitchen knife, his Pink Floyd shirt, plaid pyjamas pants, Adidas slides and fedora along the way. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Court heard Balan has done this before. In April 2000, he was in a car with his six-year-old son on James St. when he got out and began stabbing a stranger who'd just exited a taxi. The man was able to break free and collapsed nearby. Balan drove away, but then stopped to attack a woman walking home from work, stabbing her in the upper body, arms and head. Found not criminally responsible on two counts of attempted murder due to a mental illness, Balan was given an absolute discharge by the Ontario Review Board four years later. RECOMMENDED VIDEO But just two years later, Balan struck again. Court heard he was parked at a Tim Hortons on Midland Ave. when he got out of his vehicle and stabbed a customer in the chest before driving away. Once again, he was found NCR. Once again, he was given an absolute discharge in 2012. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He was stable for 11 years. A month before he killed Karyakin, he had travelled for three weeks to the Philippines to visit his girlfriend. Asked by psychiatrists what was happening that day that led to the horrifying attack, he was evasive and wouldn't answer their questions. Did Balan believe he could get away with stabbing a stranger for the third time? Not this time. 'While I have concluded Mr. Balan was suffering from a mental illness at the time of the stabbing, I am not satisfied on a balance of probabilities that he was incapable of knowing his act was morally wrong,' the judge concluded. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for the fall. mmandel@ MMA Celebrity Toronto Maple Leafs Editorial Cartoons Toronto & GTA
Toronto Sun
6 days ago
- Toronto Sun
Windsor judge delivers 16-year prison sentence to Toronto man in $13M drug operation
Millar Holmes-Hill Published Jul 16, 2025 • 2 minute read The downtown Windsor Superior Court of Justice building is shown Oct. 30, 2023. Photo by Doug Schmidt / Windsor Star A Toronto man was handed a 16-year prison sentence Tuesday in Windsor for his role in a multimillion-dollar plot to smuggle drugs into Canada for distribution. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Marvin Watson, 32, pleaded guilty to importing meth and cocaine, possessing meth for the purpose of trafficking, laundering proceeds of crime, and possessing property obtained by crime in September 2024. CBSA border officials and RCMP investigators seized 300 kilograms of meth from a truck inspected at the Ambassador Bridge after entering Canada on March 4, 2023. In November, RCMP officers arrested Watson during a vehicle stop in Toronto, seizing another 120 kg of cocaine from his vehicle. Using a court warrant to subsequently search the North York home he shared with common law spouse Maria Kiguru — also suspected of involvement — police said they seized more drugs in the garage, including 100 kg of meth and two kg of MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy). Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The RCMP credited a broad joint policing effort on both sides of the border for the arrests and seizure of about 520 kg in illicit drugs with an estimated street value of $13 million. Defence lawyer Frank Retar told the court Tuesday that his client 'innocently enough' began selling marijuana during the COVID-19 pandemic, before becoming involved in more serious drug distribution. 'He was more than a courier, but he wasn't the mastermind behind any operation of this kind,' Retar told Ontario Superior Court of Justice Paul Howard, adding his client had no prior criminal record. 'There's no fentanyl. There's no heroin. There's no guns or weapons of any kind. This is in no way a sophisticated operation.' Kiguru, who was also charged as part of the investigation, pleaded guilty on Sept. 6 to laundering proceeds of crime and was sentenced to a two-year conditional sentence that included eight months of house arrest. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Watson was scheduled to be sentenced in January, but the hearing was postponed until July as he prepared to become a first-time father. 'I would like to thank you, for granting me the time to be there with my family for when my baby was born,' Watson told Justice Howard. 'That means a lot to me.' In a joint submission, federal drug prosecutor Surinder Aujla and Retar, proposed a sentence of 16 years in prison. Watson received credit for more than 200 days spent in pre-trial custody, much of which was served under lockdown conditions and in an overcrowded cell, reducing his sentence to 14 years and five months — or 5,269 days — left to be served. Calling it a 'significant' sentence, but not one at the 'most upper level,' Justice Howard accepted the joint submission. Before being sentenced, Watson told the court that he was trying to support his family and never intended to hurt anyone. 'I just wanted to make me and my family safe,' Watson said. 'I made the decision to keep on going and here I am. I don't want anybody to think I'm just some money hungry guy. 'I just got myself into a situation and I thought the best way to get out was just to get arrested.' mholmeshill@ Crime Toronto & GTA Entertainment World NFL
Scottish Sun
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Teen, 15, on trial over ISIS suicide plot to bomb Taylor Swift concert causing UK shows to be axed
Berlin's Superior Court of Justice agreed to a trial behind closed doors TAY 'BOMB' TRIAL Teen, 15, on trial over ISIS suicide plot to bomb Taylor Swift concert causing UK shows to be axed A TEEN has gone on trial over an IS suicide plot to bomb a Taylor Swift concert that led to three of the pop star's shows being axed and tighter security at her UK dates. The lad, 15, named as Mohammad A, is accused of translating bomb instructions from Arabic and sending them to the alleged mastermind. 2 Taylor Swift's concerts were supposed to take place at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna before they were cancelled due to the terror threats 2 Taylor later said she felt a 'tremendous amount of guilt' and 'new sense of fear' over threats faced by her fans Credit: Getty Austrian Beran A, 19, allegedly planned a suicide blast at an Eras tour gig in Vienna last August. German-educated Syrian Mohammad A was nicked on the day the gigs were axed after his name was found in Beran A's contacts, it was said. Shake it Off singer Taylor later said she felt a 'tremendous amount of guilt' and 'new sense of fear' over threats faced by her fans. Berlin's Superior Court of Justice agreed to a trial behind closed doors. Berlin's Superior Court of Justice agreed with his defence lawyers' request for a private trial due to his age and 'heated press coverage' of the case. Prosecutors say the teen started following Islamic State ideology in 2024 - and pledged loyalty to the terror group in a text. They have also said the main suspect in Austria, Beran A, was still under investigation. After the alleged plot emerged, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and London Mayor Sadiq Khan were accused of pressing police into giving Taylor, 35, a blue-light escort for her gigs in the capital. The London Mayor was among Labour figures who bagged freebies to her sell-out shows which took place amid heightened security.
The Irish Sun
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Teen, 15, on trial over ISIS suicide plot to bomb Taylor Swift concert causing UK shows to be axed
A TEEN has gone on trial over an IS suicide plot to bomb a Taylor Swift concert that led to three of the pop star's shows being axed and tighter security at her UK dates. The lad, 15, named as Mohammad A, is accused of Advertisement 2 Taylor Swift's concerts were supposed to take place at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna before they were cancelled due to the terror threats 2 Taylor later said she felt a 'tremendous amount of guilt' and 'new sense of fear' over threats faced by her fans Credit: Getty Austrian Beran A, 19, allegedly planned a German-educated Syrian Mohammad A was nicked on the day the gigs were axed after his name was found in Beran A's contacts, it was said. Shake it Off singer Taylor later said she felt a 'tremendous amount of guilt' and 'new sense of fear' over threats faced by her fans. Berlin's Superior Court of Justice agreed to a trial behind closed doors. Advertisement READ MORE WORLD NEWS Berlin's Superior Court of Justice agreed with his defence lawyers' request for a private trial due to his age and 'heated press coverage' of the case. Prosecutors say the teen started following Islamic State ideology in 2024 - and pledged loyalty to the terror group in a text. They have also said the main suspect in Austria , Beran A, was still under investigation . After the alleged plot emerged, Home Secretary London Mayor Sadiq Khan were accused of pressing police into giving Taylor, 35, a blue-light escort for her gigs in the capital. Advertisement Most read in The Sun The London Mayor was among Labour figures who bagged freebies to her sell-out shows which Taylor Swift breaks her silence after three Vienna shows abruptly canceled over disturbing ISIS terror attack plot
Hamilton Spectator
12-07-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
How a near-fatal punch on New Year's six years ago changed a Toronto lawyer's life — and his assailant's
One day this spring, David Shellnutt found himself alone in a courthouse hallway with one of two men who nearly killed him. Shellnutt, the self-styled 'Biking Lawyer,' was finally seeing justice delivered in a case where he was the victim: a brutal attack more than six years ago, in the early minutes of a new year on a downtown Toronto street. This day, in the hallway of the Superior Court of Justice on University Avenue, Keron Alvarez, who had pleaded guilty to the Jan. 1, 2019 assault on Shellnutt, apologized to him through tears in a one-on-one moment the lawyer says he is still processing months later. 'It was probably one of the more intense and unique experiences of my lifetime,' said Shellnutt, who has spent his career focusing on cyclists on the losing end of collisions, as well as victims of police violence and misconduct. Shellnutt had not been on his best behaviour that New Year's. He hurled a bag of garbage at the car Alvarez and two other men were in after someone catcalled his girlfriend. He apologized to his assailant. 'I wish neither of us had been involved in this situation and that we weren't here,' he told Alvarez. With Alvarez now sentenced, Shellnutt is telling this story to show what he has learned as an assault victim and as a lawyer who represents victims — and also to highlight what both accused and victims must sometimes navigate when a system, through no fault of the people involved, takes so long. Shellnutt has zero memory of the New Year's attack due to his injuries, but a surveillance video shows what happened Jan. 1, 2019, after he and his girlfriend left a bar on Queen Street West. Shellnutt grabs a bag of garbage and hurls it towards a car, after someone made comments about his girlfriend. Two men get out and chase him, with one of them delivering a punch that sends him backwards with his head hitting the sidewalk. While he is down, Alvarez delivers what a judge later described as a 'gratuitous' punch to the head. This video shows the near-fatal assault on David Shellnutt that took place early on Jan. 1, 2019 Taken to St. Michael's Hospital with a brain bleed, Shellnutt underwent surgery. During a 'long, slow, and painful' recovery, a GoFundMe campaign kept him from losing his home. Aside from wild hallucinations in hospital, he remembers nothing until six days later, when he saw his Dad at bedside. Skip exactly ahead one year from the assault, and Shellnutt was not only back to work, but opening his own firm. In the meantime, Toronto police had arrested Alvarez a month after the assault. He had been out on federal parole at the time, serving a 10-year sentence for attempted murder with a firearm and other offences in a 2011 incident. When he was arrested for the Shellnutt assault, his parole was revoked. He served another sentence for a weapons offence and was released on bail on June 24, 2021. He pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault on April 11, 2023, well beyond federal guidelines for a timely trial. It also took another two years to be sentenced, making it six years after the offence date. 'This is an extraordinary length of time to get from event to sentencing, especially since the police arrested and identified Mr. Alvarez within a month of the incident,' Superior Court Justice Robert F. Goldstein wrote in his sentencing decision in the Shelnutt assault, released in May. 'Some explanation is required.' First, jury trials were suspended during COVID-19. When Alvarez eventually pleaded guilty, his lawyer asked for an enhanced pre-sentence screening report, also known as a Morris report. It was approved, but due to a lack of resources, a social worker was not assigned to write it until March 2024. The reports are prepared through the Sentencing and Parole Project , a private organization that was prioritizing cases where people were in custody, 'which is understandable,' noted Goldstein. The reports are useful 'in that they go into a significant level of detail and provide a broader social context in which the individual offender is situated,' wrote Goldstein, and he noted that program resources have since been increased. Then came delays due to family emergencies and health issues of parties involved in the case and 'usual difficulties co-ordinating dates' of counsel and judge. Hence, the sentencing was pushed to April 16 of this year, and reasons released in May. Alvarez, 41, has a criminal record dating back to when he was 18. He was born in Trinidad and moved to Canada at age 11, and had a difficult upbringing. According to the judge's decisions, Alvarez had been subject to anti-Black systemic racism and was called names in school, where very few students were Black. He was sent home after an incident in Grade 10 and never went back. Though he worked for a spell in a fast-food restaurant, he in his own words lived by 'hustling.' Taking all that into consideration, and though Alvarez took responsibility for assaulting Shellnutt, the offence required prison time, Goldstein determined. 'I find that Mr. Alvarez's moral blameworthiness for this offence is very high. Mr. Alvarez had a common intention to confront and assault Mr. Shellnutt. But it is his gratuitous punch that illustrates exactly what was happening that evening.' Alvarez was sentenced to three years in prison and had 991 days left to serve at time of sentencing. Shellnutt, 42, agrees with the sentence for Alvarez, who appears to have changed his ways since assaulting him. And he doesn't blame the delay on anyone. 'I don't think that, beyond the resource issue with the courts, that, from my perspective, it was handled improperly by anybody.' For a lawyer who has seen a fair share of violent and horrendous videos in his cases, it took about a year to watch the one in which he was nearly killed. He avoided going near the scene on his bike for about as long, and on streetcar rides to and from rehab, he would close his eyes when he passed by it. 'Through trauma counselling, step by step, I got there, and I've been able to stand on that street corner and take space, and I now walk by without any adverse impact.' His last drink was also that New Year's. 'A doctor said, 'Your brain isn't going to heal well if you have beer,' and so I put down the fruity sours, and I've never looked back.' Given that his response to the catcalling preceded the attack, Shellnutt said that although he did not think he was a bad person before, 'I probably had to better myself in terms of responses and my own toxic masculinity and male violence. I probably have an understanding of trauma that I didn't have before.' Taking on social justice causes had always been part of his work. But his own experience of being a victim — who needed and got help, who benefitted from excellent health care, who was treated well by police (who he often takes issue with in his cases), who saw justice done, albeit achingly slow, and a judge who recognized the impacts on him and Alvarez — has changed him. 'I think I've always had my head on straight, but this helped provide me with an insight into life that I perhaps didn't have, and has laser focused me on doing what I can while I'm here to make an impact for me and for everybody else.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
