Order Michael Finch’s new book, A Time to Stand: HERE. Prof. Jason Hill calls it “an aesthetic and political tour de force.”

This week marks seven years since Anne Widholm died from a savage beating in Windsor, Ontario. As her obituary explained:

Anne was known for her long walks in the morning, her habit of picking up trash along the way, her love of animals and nature, her hospitality and her desire to speak about Jesus at every opportunity. The Bible talks about the futility of having an abundance when there are needy people – it was so natural for her and Alfred to gift others in so many ways. Anne grew to become a joy to the Lord and to us. However you knew her, she was God’s mighty warrior and “Daughter of Eve.”

On her morning walk on October 8, 2017, the 75-year-old grandmother was picking up trash on Windsor’s Ganatchio Trail when Habibullah Ahmadi, 21, attacked her. According to Dr. Balraj Jhawar, her skull fractures, smashed face and fractured neck vertebrae were “among the most brutal things I’ve seen in my career.” The attacker literally beat her into a coma, which the neurosurgeon called “a worse state than death.”

Fourteen months later, Widholm passed away from her wounds, which some news reports described as “injuries,” a term more appropriate for an accident.  The initial charge of aggravated assault was changed to second-degree murder, which carries an automatic life sentence. The trial was repeatedly delayed and from the start little emerged about Habibullah Ahmadi and his motive for killing an elderly woman out for a stroll after church.

At age 21, Habibullah Ahmadi was a full adult, but his booking photo never appeared in the Windsor Star, the local paper of record. Not a single photo of Habibullah Ahmadi appeared in any publication or news website. The accused murderer was described as a “Windsor man” who goes by the name “Danny,” but nothing emerged from his family, friends, fellow students or co-workers, before or after the trial.

Habibullah Ahmadi pleaded not guilty and his possible motive for attacking a defenseless grandmother escaped attention during the trial. Ahmadi absurdly claimed he was high on marijuana and magic mushrooms, that he blacked out, and that he was afraid of Anne Widholm. One Windsor Star report came headlined “elderly woman hit young man first, then she was killed, trial hears on final day.”

Canadian feminists did not decry the deadly attack as an example of toxic masculinity or violence against women. Then-Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, who has often spoken out on bullying, offered no statement. The case also escaped the notice of Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Justice Bruce Thomas told the court Ahmadi “had the intention to cause Sara Anne Widholm bodily harm” and was “likely to cause her death, and that he was clearly reckless as to whether death ensued.” Thomas said people in the community “can find no apparent motive,” for the attack, and motive is central to any murder trial.

In February 2021, Thomas sentenced Habibullah Ahmadi to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 13 years, adding that the convicted murderer “has good prospects for rehabilitation.” Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens, in a statement to the court, found “no reason at all” for the crime, and as he told reporters, “I’m sure, given the opportunity, I could find good in the defendant.” The mayor, an attorney, seemed unaware that after the guilty verdict Habibullah Ahmadi was no longer a defendant but a convicted murderer.

By all indications, not a single public official named or openly condemned Habibullah Ahmadi. He never showed little if any remorse for killing Anne Widholm and still thinks he got a raw deal. Last March, three judges of Ontario’s Court of Appeals upheld the murder conviction, declaring that Ahmadi had “the requisite state of mind for murder.” The judges also declined to reduce the period of parole ineligibilty from 13 years to ten years. Even so, if anybody thought the punishment failed to fit the crime it would be hard to blame them. The clearest testimony came from Dr. Jhawar, right from the start.

“This is a super good person. This is the caliber of woman we’re talking about here,” Dr. Jhawar told reporters.  “She goes around cleaning up other people’s garbage, out of the goodness of her heart.” The notion that the attack was random was “absolutely unacceptable” to the neurosurgeon. “This is not just another assault,” he said. “This is maybe representing a new, dark side of Windsor that we can’t let propagate.” The case leaves room for reasonable doubt.

In Canada, people like Habibullah Ahmadi get special treatment. In Canada a life sentence doesn’t mean life, and the murderer of Anne Widholm is still eligible to apply for parole down the line. In the meantime, the struggle against the new dark side of Windsor is the struggle of memory against forgetting.