KILLER CONVICTED
Assistant Crown attorney Renee Puskas speaks Friday outside Superior Court in Windsor after Habibullah (Danny) Ahmadi was found guilty of second-degree murder in the killing of senior Sara Anne Widholm on the Ganatchio Trail in 2017.
A judge has found a Windsor man guilty of second-degree murder in the beating of a senior on the Ganatchio Trail in 2017, a daytime attack that shocked the community for its sheer randomness and brutality.
“I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Daniel Ahmadi had the intention to cause Sara Anne Widholm bodily harm, that he knew was likely to cause her death, and that he was clearly reckless as to whether death ensued,” said regional senior Justice Bruce Thomas.
That Ahmadi targeted, beat and fatally injured the 75-year-old woman who walked the popular recreational trail regularly, collecting litter left by others, was never in dispute at trial.
But in an hour-long decision read out Friday in the Superior Court of Justice, Thomas said he rejected the defence's argument that Ahmadi, high on magic mushrooms and cannabis, was “in the throes of a drug-induced psychosis and cannot be held criminally responsible for his actions as they were involuntary.”
The judge instead sided with the Crown's argument that Ahmadi, now 24, had the “requisite state of mind for murder” on the morning of Oct. 8, 2017. Widholm was dropped with a punch to the face by the complete stranger, a mixed martial arts (MMA) enthusiast who then proceeded to punch and elbow her in the head multiple times before picking her up and slamming her head into the ground.
Widholm underwent multiple surgeries — her face unrecognizable, her skull described at one point as having “crumbled” — but she never regained consciousness and died on Dec. 19, 2018, “as a consequence of blunt force head trauma.” The judge said factors in reaching the conclusion of guilt included Ahmadi's actions prior to the encounter, indicative of “someone who had fighting on their mind,” and that the “MMA-like blows were precisely delivered ... accurate and savage.”
A second-degree murder conviction comes with an automatic term of life in prison. A two-day sentencing hearing in January will determine how long Ahmadi must serve behind bars before being eligible for parole, with the range being a minimum of 10 years to a maximum of 25 years.
Outside the courthouse after the decision, assistant Crown attorney Renee Puskas expressed satisfaction with the trial's outcome, describing the crime as having “caused a lot of concern in the community over safety.” She described Ahmadi's attack on the vulnerable and randomly encountered senior as “an absolutely vicious beating,”
and that it was “quite obvious he knew what he was doing.”
Windsor Police Service Sgt. Chris Shaw, the detective who interviewed Ahmadi following his arrest just hours after the attack and who attended the 14-day trial and Friday's decision: “I hope this brings some measure of comfort to the family.”
Widholm, whose husband died a short time after the attack as his wife lay in hospital in a coma, had three adult children, all of them living outside of the area. Family members listened in on Friday via Zoom. Several young supporters of Ahmadi, whose formal first name is Habibullah, sat in the courtroom.
“Crime can happen anytime and any place ... but I think we live in a safe community,” said Shaw.
Defence lawyer Patricia Brown met briefly with Ahmadi after the ruling and told reporters: “Certainly, he's in shock.”
The possibility of an appeal after January's sentencing is something “I'll be discussing with him at length,” she said.
“I have a great deal of respect
and admiration for his honour, Justice Thomas, but I respectfully disagree with his decision,” Brown told reporters.
In his interview with Shaw, played during the trial, Ahmadi said he was “trying to help her and then she scared me.” What happened next, he added, was “all a blur — I wasn't in my right mind.”
The trial heard Widholm, startled by the unexpected trail encounter with Ahmadi and a teenage companion, may have swung her bag and told him to leave her alone.
As the attack began, she pleaded for help with Ahmadi's companion, who had supplied the magic mushrooms hours earlier. “Please help! What is your friend doing to me?”
The companion fled the scene and alerted people nearby, with police and paramedics soon responding. By then, Ahmadi was hiding in the bushes, waiting to make his escape to his nearby home in Little River Acres, where he was arrested a short time later, wet and covered in Widholm's blood.