Alpha Henry was found guilty on Thursday of the second-degree murder of his parents, Colin and Veronica Henry, and the attempted murder of his brother, Daniel Henry.
After a four-week trial in November 2024, Superior Court Justice Joan Barrett found that Alpha unlawfully killed his 68-year-old father and 67-year-old mother and attempted to kill his brother. Defence counsel Jamie Kopman then requested a psychiatric assessment to determine criminal responsibility.
After the assessment report was received in September 2025, Alpha no longer sought to raise the defence of not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder. The report found that Alpha did not suffer from a mental illness to the extent that would remove his criminal responsibility.
On Thursday, Barrett ruled that Alpha had the intent for murder and attempted murder, rejecting a number of Kopman’s arguments.
On Sept. 21, 2022, at around 1:40 a.m., police were called to Unit 417 at 27 Bergamot Ave. in Etobicoke, where they found Alpha inside the unit and his parents dead in the bathtub.
Two 911 calls were made: one by Alpha from the unit, the other by his younger brother Daniel, who was at a nearby gas station. Each reported being attacked by the other.
Upon entering the unit, officers found Alpha in the living room, bleeding, and his parents’ lifeless bodies, which were doused in gasoline.
When officers arrived at the gas station, they found Daniel with a bloody butcher’s knife. He was arrested and later released.
An autopsy on the bodies of Veronica and Colin concluded they both died from stab wounds.
Veronica had sustained 16 sharp instrument injuries: 10 to the head and neck, four to the torso, one to the left shoulder and one to the hand. Three of the wounds were critical, including one to the jugular vein and another to the aorta.
Colin suffered 14 sharp injuries, including wounds to his head, neck, torso and six to his hand. The most critical stab wound was to the upper right chest. The pathologist found that both victims had defensive-type injuries on their hands.
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The defence called no evidence but Alpha made four statements the night of his arrest claiming that Daniel, a flight attendant, had returned home from an overnight flight and flown into a rage, attacking both parents.
Barrett rejected Alpha’s account of events and found that he unlawfully killed his parents on Sept. 19, 2022, shortly after gaining entry into his parents’ apartment.
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Only hours earlier, on Sept. 18, Alpha was found living in the boiler room of a nearby apartment building. Toronto police officers escorted him out and cautioned him not to return.
Barrett ruled that when Daniel returned to his parents’ apartment on Sept. 21, Alpha was waiting and attacked him with a knife.
The only issue Barrett had to decide was Alpha’s state of mind and whether there was reasonable doubt that he had the intent for murder and attempted murder.
Regarding the counts of murder, Barrett rejected Kopman’s arguments, including the claims that the injuries to his parents were superficial, that he was struggling with mental health issues at the time of the offence and that his mental state was compromised due to his consumption of marijuana.
The judge found that the wounds to Veronica and Colin were not surface wounds, but deep wounds caused by a sharp instrument.
“The only rational conclusion available is that the defendant intended to cause bodily harm of such a serious nature that he knew it was likely to cause the death of his mother and father and was reckless about whether they died or not,” Barrett told court.
Barrett said she accepted that Alpha was struggling with some mental health challenges at the time of the offence but said there is an absence of evidence for what is otherwise a clear intent to murder his mother and father.
Regarding the argument that Alpha’s mental state was compromised due to the consumption of marijuana, Barrett said it was speculative and found no evidence of marijuana consumption.
Kopman argued that marijuana was found in the unit, but the judge said it wasn’t seized as evidence and even if it was there, the ownership is unclear.
“The toxicology report for Colin Henry revealed presence of THC,” Barrett said.
The judge found that Alpha’s motive for murdering his parents was anger.
Barrett said at the time, he had been estranged from his family for several months, starting in May 2022, when he was not invited to move into the Bergamot Avenue apartment.
By August, he appeared to have been homeless and found temporary shelter in the boiler room of a nearby apartment building.
Just before the fatal stabbings, Alpha called his parents twice using a payphone at Rexdale Mall. The judge said it was reasonable to deduce that the calls did not end favourably, which is why Alpha waited to gain entry into 27 Bergamot Ave., and within 30 minutes, attacked them with a sharp instrument.
Regarding the attempted murder charge, Barrett found that based on Alpha’s actions before and after the attack on Daniel, it was a deliberate and planned attack.
After stabbing his parents, Alpha reached out to Daniel using his mother’s cellphone and asked him when he would be coming back. When Daniel arrived home, Alpha was holding a butcher’s knife, yelled “Die, b—-” and brought the knife down in a stabbing motion towards Daniel’s head.
Barrett said it was clear Alpha planned to ambush Daniel.
“In my view, the immediacy, determination, and brutality of this attack reveals a clear intent to kill,” Barrett said, calling it a savage attack.
Second-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence. The issue the judge must decide is a parole eligibility period between 10 and 25 years.
A sentencing hearing has been set for March.
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