Eaton Centre shooter to get new trial

A man convicted and then acquitted of killing two people in a shooting that sparked terror and chaos in Toronto’s landmark Eaton Centre almost six years ago will have to face a new trial after Canada’s top court refused on Thursday to get involved in the case.

The Supreme Court of Canada decision leaves intact last year’s ruling from Ontario’s top court in favour of Christopher Husbands, who had earlier been convicted of second-degree murder and other offences related to the shooting.

In a unanimous decision last July, Ontario’s top court overturned Husbands’ convictions based on defence arguments about how jurors had been selected. The Appeal Court, finding that the trial judge had improperly rejected a defence request related to jury selection, ordered a new trial. The prosecution appealed to the Supreme Court, which said Thursday it would not weigh in.

The killings of Nixon Nirmalendran, 22, and Ahmed Hassan, 24, and the wounding of five others at the popular downtown mall in June 2012 sent hundreds of patrons scrambling for their lives. A pregnant woman was trampled in the mayhem and a 13-year-old boy was shot in the head, but survived.

Husbands, charged with first-degree murder, admitted responsibility for the havoc in the crowded food court but denied going to the mall intending to kill anyone.