A JURY yesterday found a Canadian man guilty of five attempted murders and two murders in an attack with a samurai sword while wearing a medieval costume on Halloween night in Quebec City.

Carl Girouard, 26, spread terror for several hours as people celebrated Halloween on October 31, 2020, attacking his victims in what appeared to be a random manner.

Two people were killed, including a woman whose throat was slit with a katana – a curved sabre once used by Samurai warriors in Japan. Five people were injured.

Girouard was arrested without resistance after a manhunt that lasted hours in the city’s Old Quebec neighbourhood, which is designated a Unesco heritage site.

“We are very happy for the victims’ families who will be able to turn the page and, we hope, heal their wounds,” said prosecutor Francois Godin outside the courthouse after the verdict was delivered.

“It will not bring back our loved ones, but society will be protected,” commented the sister-in-law of one of the victims, Suzanne Clermont.

Girouard admitted in court to the killings but blamed a mental health disorder for his actions, and entered a plea of not criminally responsible.

He reportedly testified that he had wanted to kill as many people as possible, and felt compelled to carry out the rampage.

Public broadcaster CBC said he described to jurors having two personalities, or “two Carls in my head”, and hatched his deadly “mission” in order to sow chaos.

The prosecution, however, argued that Girouard is able to distinguish right from wrong when he stalked the streets of Quebec City, and planned the attack over several years.

Francois Duchesne, 56, and Clermont, 61, were killed. Four men, aged between 19 and 67, were wounded, as was a 24-year-old woman.

Lisa Mahmoud, who survived the attack, said she finds it “hard to rejoice” but praised the verdict.

The hairdresser told reporters she still has trouble sleeping and has yet to return to work.

She is continuing rehabilitation to regain her full motor skills.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 10. Girouard’s lawyer, meanwhile, said he plans to appeal the verdict. – AFP, May 21, 2022.