Woman stabbed 25 times in ‘cruel, callous and horrific’ attack

Prosecution, defence seeking vastly different sentences for Calvin Horvat

Julie Leduc was walking alone through Corktown Park, near the homeless encampment where she and her boyfriend were living, when out of nowhere she was attacked by a stranger.

Calvin Horvat repeatedly knocked the then-22-year-old down and stabbed her head, neck, chest and arm, until Leduc’s boyfriend came upon them shortly before 4 a.m. on July 3, 2020. Horvat asked the boyfriend to “help me kill her” as she pleaded for help.

By the time Horvat fled, Leduc had been stabbed 25 times, with the most serious injuries to her neck, where the blade pierced her jugular. She underwent surgeries and was in a coma for 11 days.

Horvat readily admitted to attempted murder in the random attack, and also to other assault and weapons charges that stem from incidents before and following the stabbing.

But his plea wasn’t registered as a conviction until this past March, after he underwent a psychiatric assessment.

Court heard Horvat was in a state of psychosis at the time of the attempted murder, but he is considered criminally responsible. That’s because a forensic psychiatrist found the psychosis was “self-induced” by using crystal methamphetamine and other drugs, and not from another mental disorder.

Substance-use disorder is a medical diagnosis, but doesn’t meet the court’s criteria to be found not criminally responsible.

“I have many scars all over my body,” Leduc wrote in a victim impact statement read in court Tuesday by assistant Crown Nancy Flynn.

Leduc still needs rehabilitation for injuries to her spine and tendons in her hand.

Court was shown a series of photographs of Leduc’s scars.

“I do have concerns as a woman with walking at night,” Leduc’s statement said. “Because I didn’t know the man who attacked me, I will always be suspicious of strangers who are too close to me.”

Flynn called the level of violence “cruel, callous and horrific.”

“Members of the community need to be able to be out in society without the threat of an individual, a stranger, violently and viciously attacking them,” she said, adding that the homeless community, of which Leduc was a part, need to be protected from such violence.

Despite the plea and agreed facts in the case, the prosecution and defence differed vastly in how they believe the court should consider Horvat’s mental illness and what sentence he should face. Flynn called for an 18.5-year sentence, including 17 for the attempted murder. Defence attorney Larissa Fedak asked for between five and six years.

Any sentence imposed will be reduced by credit for the nearly two years Horvat has served in custody since his arrest, but Fedak also asked for additional credit for lockdowns and restrictions in jail amid the pandemic.

“I’m very sorry for what’s happened,” Horvat told the court over Zoom.

“I went mentally insane.” Before his arrest in July 2020, Horvat had a dated criminal record that did not include crimes of violence.

The three incidents happened within the span of a week, starting on June 25 when he threatened people with a knife at Gore Park.

He was taken to hospital for concerns about mental health, but released.

On July 3, after leaving a severely injured Leduc at Corktown Park, he pulled a knife on a convenience store clerk and then stole a woman’s purse and threatened others with knives at a Tim Hortons, before he was apprehended.

Horvat came from a broken home with a history of mental illness and drug use, Fedak told the court. He has a Grade 8 education. He has a long history of mental illness and drug addiction, including multiple hospitalizations.

He lived with his mother, who he was very reliant upon, until her death about a year before the violent offences.

“Once he no longer had his mom, he ended up being homeless,” Fedak said.

She also read a letter from Horvat’s aunt, who recalled Horvat having a highly dysfunctional childhood and troubles from an early age. She said her nephew began to hear voices before his drug abuse began.

Horvat needs treatment for trauma, mental illness and drug addiction, so he doesn’t “slip through the cracks,” she said.

The case returns July 12 when Justice Martha Zivolak is expected to deliver her judgment.

‘‘ Members of the community need to be able to be out in society without the threat of an individual, a stranger, violently and viciously attacking them.

NANCY FLYNN ASSISTANT CROWN ATTORNEY