Randall Shepherd, a
Canadian, who was accused in a failed shopping mall massacre plot in the
Atlantic Canadian city of Halifax pleaded guilty on Tuesday and was sentenced
to 10 years in prison, a prosecution spokeswoman said.
An American woman charged in the same case has
pleaded not guilty and is expected to face trial in May, according to the court
and prosecution. The two were accused of planning a mass murder and suicide at
a shopping center. They were arrested at the Halifax airport in February after
the woman arrived from Illinois, allegedly to carry out the massacre.
Prosecution spokeswoman Chris Hansen said Randall
Shepherd, who was 21 when he faced charges last year, pleaded guilty to
conspiracy to commit murder at his court appearance and prosecutors and defense
lawyers agreed on a 10-year prison sentence.
Shepherd and American Lindsay Souvannarath, who was 23
when she was charged last year, were accused of conspiracy to commit murder and
arson as well making threats to cause harm or death through social media. Shepherd
and Souvannarath were arrested after police received a tip about their alleged
plans to shoot as many people as possible at the Halifax Shopping Centre on
Valentine’s Day and then kill themselves. A third man believed linked to the
plot was found dead in a house in Halifax.
The two men were childhood friends in Halifax and
they reportedly met Souvannarath online. All three admired the two teenagers
who killed 12 students and a teacher in a high school shooting spree in
Columbine, Colorado, in 1999, according to media reports.
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