'It was me': Video shows moment University of Waterloo attacker admits to triple stabbing

Warning: There are some graphic details in this story.

 

Disturbing evidence is being shared for the first time of the 2023 attack at the University of Waterloo.

An audio recording of the stabbing, along with video of the aftermath and the attacker's abrupt confession, were submitted into evidence last week when Geovanny Villalba-Aleman pled guilty to four assault-related charges.

CTV News has now obtained all of the recordings.

At the time of the attack, Villalba-Aleman was a 24-year-old international student who had recently graduated from the University of Waterloo.

Geovanny Villalba-Aleman in a photo taken from LinkedIn.

Audio evidence

As part of his plea, court heard an audio recording of the moments leading up to the stabbings on June 28, 2023.

Villalba-Aleman can be heard interrupting the gender studies lecture.

“Excuse me, is this psychology?” he asks.

“No, but you’re welcome,” the professor answers. “This is gender issues.”

“Pardon me?” Villalba-Aleman responds.

“This is gender issues, not psychology at all,” the professor repeats.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” says Villalba-Aleman.

He asks one more question before the professor adds: “So, maybe you’ll just excuse yourself?”

“Um, no, actually, I just want to do it,” Villalba-Aleman says matter-of-factly.

“Well, I’m going to keep on going,” the professor interrupts.

“Well, you’re a Marxist, so…” Villalba-Aleman continues.

The classroom then erupts in panicked screams.

Victim statements, which were later read in court, detailed what happened next.

Witnesses said Villalba-Aleman pulled a large kitchen knife out of his backpack and made a move towards the professor. He chased her around the room and eventually got on top of her and sliced at her nose, hand and bicep.

Two other students were also hurt. One was stabbed four times in the back and another was slashed on the forearm and hand.

Students threw chairs and other items at Villalba-Aleman in an effort to get him to stop.

The entire attack lasted approximately two minutes.

“Someone’s stabbing us!” one person could be heard yelling on the recording. “Please call 911!”

A patient is taken to hospital by paramedics after a triple stabbing at the University of Waterloo on June 28, 2023.

Police body camera evidence

Also shown in court was video of Villalba-Aleman’s first interaction with the Waterloo Regional Police Service.

He can be seen tending to cuts on his hands and arms as an officer, wearing a body camera, approaches.

In the first part of the nearly six-and-a-half minute video, Villalba-Aleman pretends he was one of the victims.

“A police officer is going to talk with you, OK?” an unidentified woman says.

“They got my arm there as well,” Villalba-Aleman explains, showing the officer his wounds.

Geovanny Villalba-Aleman shows off his injuries in police body cam footage. (Source: Court exhibit)

“So what did the person who stabbed you look like?” the male officer asks.

“I cannot remember well,” Villalba-Aleman responds. “He was kind of tall.”

The officer begins to write down the information in a notebook, asking if the attacker was: “Tall like me or tall like you?”

“Ah,” Villalba-Aleman answers. “Kind of my size actually.”

The officer goes on to ask if he can remember any other details about what the attacker looked like.

“Uh, black hair,” Villalba-Aleman says.

“Black hair?” the officer asks.

“Yeah,” Villalba-Aleman agrees. “Short, short hair, I mean.”

“Short hair,” the officer repeats. “Like a buzz cut, or like…?”

“Kind of a buzz cut,” Villalba-Aleman answers, touching his own hair.

He then goes on claiming he got hurt while trying to stop the attacker.

“I was fighting back,” he tells the officer. “So, I mean, everyone was fighting back at each other.”

He then announces that he remembers the attacker having two knives.

“What kind of knives were they?” the officer asks. "Were they hunting knives, or…?”

“They were kitchen knives, actually,” Villalba-Aleman responds.

“Just one?” the officer presses him.

“Two,” Villalba-Aleman answers.

“Two?” the officer repeats.

“He was going like this,” Villalba-Aleman says, holding his two arms up and shaking them in a double stabbing motion.

Police body cam footage shows Geovanny Villalba-Aleman holding up his arms as he mimics the alleged attacker. (Source: Court exhibit)

Suddenly, Villalba-Aleman changes course.

“You know something, actually,” he says, pausing and licking his lips.

“What’s up?” the officer asks.

Villalba-Aleman abruptly holds out his two arms towards the officer.

“Can you please handcuff me? Because it was me,” he states.

Police body cam footage shows Geovanny Villalba-Aleman holding out his hands after confessing to a triple stabbing. (Source: Court exhibit)

“It was you?” the officer repeats.

“Yeah,” Villalba-Aleman answers, followed by a few more words that can’t be heard clearly on the recording.

“I have the knife if you want,” he adds.

After the abrupt confession, Villalba-Aleman is immediately handcuffed.

He then shows the officers his backpack where they end up finding a large kitchen knife.

A Waterloo Regional Police officer looks in Geovanny Villalba-Aleman's backpack. (Source: Court exhibit)

Villalba-Aleman’s charges

Villalba-Aleman was arrested and initially charged with three counts of aggravated assault, four counts of assault with a weapon, and two counts of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

Geovanny Villalba-Aleman being placed in a Waterloo Regional Police car on June 28, 2023.

After the attack, police found a ripped up Pride flag that had been left on a desk in the classroom.

Investigators determined Villalba-Aleman was the one who destroyed it.

A ripped up Pride flag found on a desk after the University of Waterloo stabbing on June 3, 2023. (Source: Court exhibit)

He was charged with mischief under $5,000 for damaging the Pride flag and, on Aug. 24, police added an additional charge of attempt to commit murder.

Prosecutors later announced that Villalba-Aleman would also face terrorism charges.

On June 3, 2024, he pled guilty to two counts of aggravated assault and one count of committing an assault with a weapon.

Motive for the attack

In an interview with police after the attack, Villalba-Aleman told investigators his actions were motivated by a “desire to protect freedom of academia.”

“I’m concerned about the ideologies, you know, the gender studies,” he explained.

Students, he added, want education and not indoctrination.

Court heard that Villalba-Aleman also had something he called a “manifesto” where he discussed “woke” culture.

Court process continues

Villalba-Aleman will appear in court again in October.

Five days have been set aside for a judge to hear victim impact statements, sentencing submissions and arguments from federal Crown prosecutors related to the Villalba-Aleman’s terrorism charge.

Since Villalba-Aleman was an international student, and not a Canadian citizen, it’s possible he will be deported back to his home country.