WARNING: This story contains disturbing details.
The former University of Waterloo, Ont., student who pleaded guilty to a stabbing rampage in a gender-studies class in 2023 on Monday was sentenced to 11 years in prison when he appeared in a Kitchener court.
Geovanny Villalba-Aleman, 25, will not be charged with terrorism, but the judge called his actions a “particularly grave hate crime.”
In June 2024, he pleaded guilty to two charges of aggravated assault and one charge each of assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon.
Villalba-Aleman also faced possible terrorism charges, but Justice Frances Brennan said Monday those were no longer being considered because “his actions were not ideologically motivated.”
“This is a particularly grave hate crime. Mr. Villalba-Aleman planned his attack, he posted a boastful and hateful statement of his intentions and committed the offence in a university classroom, no doubt to draw widespread attention to his crime,” Brennan said as part of his sentencing hearing.
“This was not an impulsive act by any definition. Mr. Villalba-Aleman was deliberate and calculated. He intended to inflict, and did inflict, widespread fear.”
Convicted man gets credit for time served
Two students and Katherine Fulfer, an associate professor, were stabbed in Hagey Hall on June 28, 2023. At the time, police called it “a hate-motivated incident related to gender expression and gender identity.”
Villalba-Aleman received:
- 11 years for aggravated assault on Fulfer.
- Six years for aggravated assault on one of the students.
- 18 months for assault causing bodily harm on one of the students.
- Six months on assault with a weapon on one of the students.
The teacher who was stabbed during a gender-studies class at the University of Waterloo in June 2023 is speaking out. Katy Fulfer is reflecting on what caused a former student to attack her with two kitchen knives inside of a classroom where she was teaching a philosophy of gender course. She spoke to CBC’s Aastha Shetty about the role we all have to play to build a world that is safe.
The sentences are concurrent. With time served, Villalba-Aleman has just over seven years remaining in prison.
In the first segment of the sentencing hearing last fall, as part of the victim impact statements, Fulfer and the students shared the physical and emotional pain they’ve suffered as a result of the attack. It marked the first time Fulfer spoke out about what they experienced.
The maximum penalty for the federal charges the former student faced is life in prison. The Crown was asking for a sentence of nine to 16 years.
As the case wound itself through the courts, footage from a police officer-worn body camera was presented, showing Villalba-Aleman eventually confessing to the attack.
The video shows the ex-student first pretending to be a victim of the stabbing attack, describing a perpetrator with the same hair and height as himself, before saying “put the handcuffs on me because it was me.” His confession was followed by an apology to the university, adding it was “a personal issue.”
Villalba-Aleman spoke at his sentencing hearing in October.
“I admitted violence is not good for any reason,” he said.
“I just want to apologize to people who thought it was very horrible.” He also acknowledged some people may not believe him.
Injured instructor thanks UW community
Fulfer issued a statement on Monday as Villalba-Aleman was sentenced.
“Sentencing marks an end to the legal process, but our community work to cultivate inclusive spaces of belonging continues. No one should experience what my students and I did on June 28, 2023,” Fulfer wrote.
“To my colleagues in Gender and Social Justice and in Philosophy, and to other faculty and staff whose teaching, research or work advances social justice: thank you. You show up for our students and for each other. Every day you strive to make visible the urgency of teaching and research on gender equity and justice across campus.”
Full statement by University of Waterloo instructor Katy Fulfer:
Following the attack in Hagey Hall in June 2023, I received an outpouring of support from across campus and the Kitchener-Waterloo community, from friends, students, colleagues and strangers. Academics and survivors across the world reached out in care and solidarity. This support was vital to me, especially in the initial months following the attack.
I would also like to thank the provincial and federal Crown attorneys for their work, and my liaison with the Crown for his support throughout the legal process.
Sentencing marks an end to the legal process, but our community work to cultivate inclusive spaces of belonging continues. No one should experience what my students and I did on June 28, 2023.
To my colleagues in Gender and Social Justice and in Philosophy, and to other faculty and staff whose teaching, research, or work advances social justice: thank you. You show up for our students and for each other. Every day you strive to make visible the urgency of teaching and research on gender equity and justice across campus. To Professor Carla Fehr, your leadership is a shining light. I am grateful to everyone who supports and helps make this work possible. I am also grateful to W3+ (Waterloo Womxn + Nonbinary Wednesdays) community on campus for their work sustaining community for women and non-binary people across campus.
Finally, to the students who continue to take courses in Gender and Social Justice, thank you for being here, for your bravery and enthusiastic engagement.
