Suspect in caught-on-cam stabbing at Vancouver Tim Hortons expected to plead guilty

A man charged in a stabbing at a Vancouver Tim Hortons is expected to plead guilty when he appears before a judge next week.

David Richard Morin is scheduled to appear in court for sentencing June 14, at which time he is expected to enter the plea, his defence lawyers told the B.C. Prosecution Service.

The date was set during a court appearance Tuesday, the BCPS told CTV News later that day.

Morin, who is in his 20s, was charged with aggravated assault after a Mexican tourist was attacked at a coffee shop in Harbour Centre in January. Police said at the stabbing came "completely without warning" shortly after 6 a.m. on a Saturday.

Investigators released surveillance video at the time in an effort to identify the attacker. The video showed a man approaching the victim from behind, then stabbing him repeatedly in the back and shoulder.

A suspect was soon identified and charged. Police attributed the quick arrest to a number of tips that came in following release of the video.

While they said little about Morin, a man with the same name and age had been the subject of a nation-wide arrest warrant a year before the assault, after failing to return to a residence where he was required to live.

Although officers did not say in January 2021 what Morin was alleged to have done to warrant his release from police custody with conditions, online court records showed a person of the same name had been charged with robbery and theft under $5,000, among other offences.

A year after that advisory, Morin was identified and charged in the Tim Hortons stabbing.

Speaking to CTV News just days after the attack, the victim said through a translator that he'd feared for his life that day. Still wearing bandages, he said he felt a lot of anxiety, especially when outside.

"He feels somebody's going to attack him in the back. He fees insecure anywhere he goes," the translator said.

As for what he remembered of the incident, he said he lined up, a person walked by on his side then he fell. When he saw the video released by police, he realized his mind had blocked out some of what happened.