Calvin Nimoh has been found guilty of first-degree murder in a random stabbing that left cancer researcher Mark Ernsting dead back in December 2015.
The jury handed down their verdict inside a Toronto courtroom on Friday evening one day after deliberations began.
Nimoh attempted to plead guilty to manslaughter last month but prosecutors rejected his plea as the defence argued he did not have the presence of mind for murder. The Crown later contended there was a clear plan to rob and stab Ernsting on that night.
The 39-year-old victim was a biomedical engineer at the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research. He was on a daily walk in the area of Yonge and Gerrard streets when he was stabbed nine times, according to police.
Speaking outside the courtroom following the guilty verdict, the victim’s husband Robert Iseman told reporters he was looking forward to spending the rest of his life with Ernsting.
“My husband Dr. Mark Ernsting was the best person I knew and I am very lucky to have known such a person,” he said. “Mark will be remembered as who he was, my loving husband, a devoted son, brother and uncle, a fierce friend, a brilliant mind and a passionate heart and a productive member of our society.”
“He will be missed by so many.”
Iseman said he is thankful for the jury’s verdict.
“He (Nimoh) came into court and told more lies about the event and about my husband. Thankfully the jury was able to see through his lies and properly convict him.”
Homicide detective Paul Worden told reporters the hearing was a “long process” for the family of the victim.
“Mark was a person who, even though his life was cut short, lived a full life and the work he did affected a lot of people,” he said. “It’s just a tragic loss that this had to occur.”
When describing Nimoh inside the courtroom, Worden said he was “stone-faced” and showed no remorse as he has through “most of these proceedings.”
The guilty verdict came during the second trial for Nimoh on this charge of first-degree murder as the judge declared a mistrial last month due to the jury being introduced to information that was not heard inside the court room.
