American woman makes unexpected guilty plea in Halifax mall murder plot
HALIFAX — An American woman has pleaded guilty in a plot to kill shoppers at a Halifax mall on Valentine’s Day, a potential massacre avoided by a Crime Stoppers tip to police.
Lindsay Kantha Souvannarath of Geneva, Illinois, was one of three people involved in the 2015 plan to use rifles and gas bombs on people at the Halifax Shopping Centre’s food court.
Chris Hansen, a spokeswoman for the public prosecution service, says the 25-year-old woman caught prosecutors off guard when she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder Tuesday during a routine appearance before the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.
“This removes the burden of conducting a lengthy trial … I can say it was unexpected,” said Hansen, adding sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 5 and 6.