Latest news with #VanessaKurpiewska
CTV News
22-05-2025
- CTV News
A ‘senseless violent attack of an innocent stranger': Man sentenced to life for fatal stabbing on TTC subway train
A man who fatally stabbed one woman and wounded another during a violent and random attack aboard a TTC subway train in December 2022 has been sentenced to life in prison. Neng Jia Jin previously pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the stabbing death of 31-year-old Vanessa Kurpiewska and the attempted murder of another woman on the afternoon of Dec. 8, 2022. 'Two innocent women were intentionally and violently attacked… as they went about an otherwise normal day on public transit,' Superior Court Justice Joan Barrett wrote in her reasons for sentence released on Tuesday. 'Society needs to be protected from Mr. Jin and others who are like-minded who used the public transit system to pray on unsuspecting victims.' The judge wrote that Jin left his Scarborough home that morning with knives in his backpack 'intent on killing people.' According to the court documents, his movements that day were well documented on video surveillance footage. From the moment he left his Scarborough home and boarded a TTC bus shortly after 11 a.m. that day, Jin was captured on video closely watching female TTC passengers. The judge pointed to one incident at Royal York Station shortly before 12:30 p.m., where Jin was seen following a woman as she entered the subway station and boarded a train. When she became aware that she was being watched, she quickly hopped off, leaving Jin on the train as it departed the station, the judge said. Later that afternoon, Jin was seen boarding an eastbound train at Islington Station. The two victims were also passengers on that train. At one point, Jin moved to the doorway of the vehicle, standing directly beside the area where Kurpiewska was quietly sitting in her seat. He pulled out the two knives from his backpack, and began lunging at the victim, the judge said. Seconds later, according to the court documents, he spotted another woman sitting in the corner by herself and lunged at her, unsuccessfully attempting to stab her in the head four times. A Good Samaritan stepped in and began kicking Jin, eventually disarming him. The second woman was able to escape and the Good Samaritan blocked Jin in the corner of the train until police arrived to arrest him. Kurpiewska, who suffered three stab wounds to her chest, was pronounced dead shortly after she arrived at St. Michael's Hospital. The second woman was stabbed in her abdomen, left forearm, right hand, and left leg. A tendon in her right ring finger was cut and required plastic surgery, the judge noted. 'A chilling effect' According to the court documents, Jin, who had poor vision and had undergone eye surgeries years earlier, later told police that he 'made a plan to kill people' as an act of 'revenge' when he woke up and discovered he 'could barely see.' He said he had initially planned to kill people on the bus but went to the subway instead where the lighting was better. In a victim impact statement submitted by Kurpiewska's family, they described the unbearable loss they have suffered. They described Kurpiewska as a happy, independent, and kind person who defied the odds when she was told she would never walk after being diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Vanessa Kurpiewska Vanessa Kurpiewska, 31, is seen in this undated photograph provided by police. The surviving victim, a mother of two, said the physical, emotional, and psychological impact of the incident has been significant, adding that she has difficulty with her arms and has numbness in her fingers. She said while she continues to use public transit out of necessity, she is forced to relieve the trauma when she does. 'Mr. Jin was consumed with his own anger and despair over his failing vision. He sought revenge on random vulnerable strangers who were defenseless to his brutal attack,' the judge wrote. 'The ripple effects of such acts of violence on the community at large are extremely aggravating. The senseless violent attack of an innocent stranger undoubtedly has a chilling effect on all commuters and transit workers, who undoubtedly now fear for their own safety when using public transit.' Jin was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole for 25 years for the murder of Kurpiewska. A concurrent sentence of 20 years was handed down for the attempted murder of the surviving victim.
CTV News
22-05-2025
- CTV News
A ‘senseless violent attack of an innocent stranger': Man sentenced to life for fatal stabbing on TTC subway train
A man who fatally stabbed one woman and wounded another during a violent and random attack aboard a TTC subway train in December 2022 has been sentenced to life in prison. Neng Jia Jin previously pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the stabbing death of 31-year-old Vanessa Kurpiewska and the attempted murder of another woman on the afternoon of Dec. 8, 2022. 'Two innocent women were intentionally and violently attacked… as they went about an otherwise normal day on public transit,' Superior Court Justice Joan Barrett wrote in her reasons for sentence released on Tuesday. 'Society needs to be protected from Mr. Jin and others who are like-minded who used the public transit system to pray on unsuspecting victims.' The judge wrote that Jin left his Scarborough home that morning with knives in his backpack 'intent on killing people.' According to the court documents, his movements that day were well documented on video surveillance footage. From the moment he left his Scarborough home and boarded a TTC bus shortly after 11 a.m. that day, Jin was captured on video closely watching female TTC passengers. The judge pointed to one incident at Royal York Station shortly before 12:30 p.m., where Jin was seen following a woman as she entered the subway station and boarded a train. When she became aware that she was being watched, she quickly hopped off, leaving Jin on the train as it departed the station, the judge said. Later that afternoon, Jin was seen boarding an eastbound train at Islington Station. The two victims were also passengers on that train. At one point, Jin moved to the doorway of the vehicle, standing directly beside the area where Kurpiewska was quietly sitting in her seat. He pulled out the two knives from his backpack, and began lunging at the victim, the judge said. Seconds later, according to the court documents, he spotted another woman sitting in the corner by herself and lunged at her, unsuccessfully attempting to stab her in the head four times. A Good Samaritan stepped in and began kicking Jin, eventually disarming him. The second woman was able to escape and the Good Samaritan blocked Jin in the corner of the train until police arrived to arrest him. Kurpiewska, who suffered three stab wounds to her chest, was pronounced dead shortly after she arrived at St. Michael's Hospital. The second woman was stabbed in her abdomen, left forearm, right hand, and left leg. A tendon in her right ring finger was cut and required plastic surgery, the judge noted. 'A chilling effect' According to the court documents, Jin, who had poor vision and had undergone eye surgeries years earlier, later told police that he 'made a plan to kill people' as an act of 'revenge' when he woke up and discovered he 'could barely see.' He said he had initially planned to kill people on the bus but went to the subway instead where the lighting was better. In a victim impact statement submitted by Kurpiewska's family, they described the unbearable loss they have suffered. They described Kurpiewska as a happy, independent, and kind person who defied the odds when she was told she would never walk after being diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Vanessa Kurpiewska Vanessa Kurpiewska, 31, is seen in this undated photograph provided by police. The surviving victim, a mother of two, said the physical, emotional, and psychological impact of the incident has been significant, adding that she has difficulty with her arms and has numbness in her fingers. She said while she continues to use public transit out of necessity, she is forced to relieve the trauma when she does. 'Mr. Jin was consumed with his own anger and despair over his failing vision. He sought revenge on random vulnerable strangers who were defenseless to his brutal attack,' the judge wrote. 'The ripple effects of such acts of violence on the community at large are extremely aggravating. The senseless violent attack of an innocent stranger undoubtedly has a chilling effect on all commuters and transit workers, who undoubtedly now fear for their own safety when using public transit.' Jin was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole for 25 years for the murder of Kurpiewska. A concurrent sentence of 20 years was handed down for the attempted murder of the surviving victim.
CBC
20-05-2025
- CBC
Man sentenced to life in prison for fatal 2022 Toronto subway stabbing
Social Sharing A man who stabbed two women on a Toronto subway in 2022, killing one of them, has been sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder. Neng Jia Jin, who was sentenced Tuesday in Ontario Superior Court, has no chance of parole for 25 years. He also received a 20 year sentence for attempted murder. "The impact of Mr. Jin's conduct is profound. No sentence that I impose can adequately compensate for this harm," said Justice Joan M. Barrett. Jin had pleaded guilty to both charges at a pre-trial hearing in February. In Canada, first-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence without the ability to apply for parole for 25 years, while attempted murder comes with a sentencing range of six years to life. On the afternoon of Dec. 8, 2022, Jin randomly attacked two women on an eastbound subway train approaching High Park station, stabbing both several times, according to the agreed statement of facts. He injured a 37-year-old woman, according to the court document, and fatally wounded 31-year-old Vanessa Kurpiewska of Toronto. Kurpiewska died in hospital shortly after. The other woman — whom Jin stabbed in the abdomen, arm, hand and leg — suffered extensive permanent nerve damage and a physical scar. Jin did not know the victims, according to court documents. Over the course of the sentencing hearing, which began last month, five victims were presented to the court, including Kurpiewska's sister, who read a victim impact statement in court on behalf of her family. She said her sister was a kind soul, and her death was a "pure act of evil that took her away and will haunt the family forever." A witness who tried to save Kurpiewska from the attack told the court in his own statement that the incident had shaken him, causing him to contemplate suicide. Jin considered killing other people first Court documents show that several hours after his arrest, Jin gave a videotaped statement to police saying he had made a plan to kill people when he woke up that day. Jin, a Chinese national, told police after the stabbing that he knew the women were innocent, but he wanted to take revenge after a Canadian doctor damaged his eyesight during a surgery. He said he'd wanted to sue, but a lawyer told him he couldn't because he had no legal Canadian status, so he wanted to take revenge on other innocent people. Video evidence showed Jin took a bus to Kennedy station in Scarborough hours before the attack. On the bus ride, footage showed Jin glancing at female passengers. WATCH | 2022 TTC stabbing leaves one woman dead, another injured Woman dead after stabbing at Toronto subway station 2 years ago Duration 1:19 He took the subway to Royal York station, according to court documents, where surveillance video showed him start to stalk a woman who eventually managed to evade Jin by jumping off a train as it departed, after he had followed her on. In an impact statement read before the court, the woman said she's been haunted by Jin's stare ever since, and has become anxious in public, paranoid someone may be following her at any time. Jin spent the next hour going back and forth between west end subway stations before boarding an eastbound car at Islington station where his eventual victims were already riding just before 2 p.m., court documents said. Soon after, Jin took two knives from a bag he'd been carrying and stabbed Kurpiewska seven times, before moving on to his second victim seated in the back of the car. As he attacked her, a bystander on the train intervened to disarm and subdue him until police arrived.
