WARNING: This story contains graphic descriptions of violence.
A man has been found guilty of manslaughter in a killing outside a Vancouver coffee shop in March 2023.
Inderdeep Singh Gosal had been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Paul Schmidt outside a Starbucks where he was stabbed six times in an attack captured on video and shared widely online.
Justice Kathleen Ker described the incident as “shocking, violent and traumatic.”
She said Gosal had been sitting on the Starbucks patio smoking a joint. Schmidt, who had been pushing his daughter in a stroller, started yelling at Gosal for smoking before advancing on him physically and throwing him to the ground, she said.
A memorial to Paul Schmidt is pictured near Granville and Pender in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia on Wednesday, March 29, 2023. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
The altercation was witnessed by more than a dozen people and cellphone video of it was shared widely on social media. It was also recorded by a number of CCTV security cameras.
Gosal pleaded not guilty in February to second-degree murder.
Gosal’s lawyers had argued in the judge-alone trial in B.C. Supreme Court that a manslaughter conviction was more appropriate, saying the attack involved “overreaction due to mental illness” rather than a “deliberate intent to kill.”
The court heard Gosal has schizophrenia and he testified he had stopped taking his medication about three months before the killing, and believed a knife he said he found in an alley was a “sign from God” he needed to protect himself.
But the Crown cited several instances of Gosal changing his story, including about buying the knife, exaggerating to police how much alcohol he consumed and presenting psychiatrists with self-serving depictions of his psychological state.
Emergency personnel worked to save Paul Schmidt after he was stabbed. (Nick Logan/CBC)
In her decision, Ker said evidence presented at trial, especially the CCTV footage, showed clearly that it was Schmidt who was the initial aggressor in the confrontation.
She said Schmidt had the upper hand in the fight until Gosal started stabbing Schmidt with a knife he had taken out of his pocket. The entire physical confrontation lasted only 28 seconds.