Woman who struck and killed Toronto lawyer with U-Haul truck gets life in prison

The woman behind the wheel of a U-Haul truck that intentionally struck and killed a Toronto lawyer has been sentenced to life in prison.

Justice Peter Bawden delivered Anh Chiem’s sentence Wednesday afternoon.

She was found guilty of first-degree murder in the incident that left 52-year-old Scott Rosen dead in an underground parking garage in 2020.

Chiem initially refused to attend the sentencing hearing, including victim impact statement’s from Rosen’s loved ones, with Bawden saying that the hearing would be delayed as she was not leaving her own cell.

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“She has a duty to attend this court. If she refuses to abide by her duty the court will order her to comply,” Bawden told a Toronto courtroom on Wednesday as he issued an unusual extraction order that would forcibly bring her to court.

“Correctional officers are permitted to use whatever force is reasonably necessary,” he said.

Rosen, a commercial litigator, had just finished work at approximately 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 18, 2020 when he was run down by the driver of a rented U-Haul truck who fled the scene.

Police initially described the scene as a hit-and-run before it was revealed by an eyewitness that Chiem had waited in the truck for Rosen to leave his law firm before she crashed into him.

Emergency crews respond to a fatal incident at an underground parking garage in midtown Toronto on Dec. 18, 2020.

Chiem’s son-in-law had been represented by Rosen and court heard that she had blamed the Toronto lawyer for business troubles she had experienced.

The U-Haul truck was recovered the night of Dec. 18 near Bathurst and Dundas streets. Chiem was arrested at a Toronto home the following week and charged with first-degree murder.

A jury found her guilty earlier this month.

Chiem arrived at the Toronto courtroom on Wednesday from Vanier women’s prison in Milton, Ont.

She sat restrained as she listened to the translation of emotional testimony by people in Rosen's life including Rosen’s mother, Frima.

“Scott was a brilliant lawyer. Justice for the little guy was his aim,” she said. “How has his death impacted my life? I’ve cried a river of tears, screamed and yelled, but it doesn’t bring him back.”

Anh Chiem appears in a Toronto courtroom on May 24, 2023. (CTV News Toronto/John Mantha)

Chiem claimed her innocence through the use of a translator. Bawden called Chiem a “pathological liar” and that future parole officers should not trust what she says to be true.

She is eligible for parole after 25 years served.

With files from CTV News Toronto’s Jon Woodward