Man accused of killing six people in Ottawa makes court appearance

Saturday, 16 March 2024 00:09 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The man accused in the deadliest mass killing in Ottawa’s living memory made a brief court appearance Thursday, waiving his right to an arraignment.

In a small courtroom packed with dozens of reporters, the voice of Febrio De-Zoysa, 19, could be heard in an audio link from the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre, where he was being held in protective custody, according to his lawyer Ewan Lyttle.

De-Zoysa mumbled his name and date of birth before being admonished by a correctional officer to speak louder.

De-Zoysa is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of a mother and her four children, along with a family friend, at the Berrigan Drive home where he was living. He is also charged with attempted murder in an alleged attack on the father of the family, who survived.

The father, Dhanushka Wickramasinghe, is recovering in hospital from his injuries.

During Thursday’s appearance before Justice of the Peace Karen Baum, the Crown entered new information to correct the spellings of some of the victims’ names that had been entered at De-Zoysa’s first court appearance last week. The charges did not change.

Waiving his right to arraignment made it unnecessary for the full list of charges against De-Zoysa to be read into the court record again.

After registering his client’s language of choice as English, Lyttle requested an adjournment until 28 March. The entire matter took less than four minutes.

Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, Lyttle would not comment when asked if his client might use mental health as a defence or if he understood what had happened.

Lyttle has met with De-Zoysa both by video and in person at the Innes Road jail.

“He’s in protective custody. He’s doing OK,” Lyttle said.

Lyttle said he had also been in contact with De-Zoysa’s family, but would not say where they were, only that they were not in Sri Lanka.

“They’re obviously very upset,” he said.

De-Zoysa came to Canada as an international student, police say, and was living with the victims, who were also newcomers from Sri Lanka.

Naradha Kodituwakku of the Buddhist Congress of Canada said Wickramasinghe’s father and brother had arrived from Sri Lanka to support him. The funeral for his wife and children is expected to be held this weekend. (Source:https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/man-accused-of-killing-six-people-in-barrhaven-to-appear-in-court-today)