WINNIPEG — A Winnipeg lawyer who was seriously injured when she opened a letter bomb in her office says the man who sent it to her is a coward who wanted to cause pain and fear.
Maria Mitousis lost a hand and suffered other serious injuries when the device sent to her by Guido Amsel went off in the summer of 2015.
Amsel was convicted earlier this year on four charges of attempted murder and several other offences.
Mitousis told his sentencing hearing that she has had repeated surgeries, still feels sensations from her lost fingers and has struggled to recover.
The Crown is seeking a life sentence for Amsel, who sent bombs to his former wife and two lawyers, including Mitousis, who had represented Amsel's wife in a financial dispute he had with her.
Police detonated the other two bombs safely.
"I've concluded that his ... plan to cause pain, fear and chaos are the actions of a coward," Mitousis told court Wednesday in her victim impact statement.
She added she is still affected by her injuries.
"It shocks me each time I see it," she said about the end of her right arm where her hand was. "I wear the scars of the explosion on my face and my body."
Mitousis, who did not appear to look at Amsel during her statement, said she plans to put Amsel behind her.
"After this is over, I will forget him and he will disappear from my consciousness."
Crown attorney Chris Vanderhooft argued Amsel should be given a life sentence with no parole eligibility for 10 years for the letter bombs he sent in 2015.
On top of that, Vanderhooft suggested Amsel should get a 15-year sentence for a bomb that was left outside Iris Amsel's home in 2013. That explosive went off but did not injure anyone.
Vanderhooft called Amsel's decision to send three letter bombs at the same time in 2015 "a despicable act of indiscriminate terrorism."
He said Mitousis, by opening the package and inadvertently setting off the bomb, caused police to intercept the two other devices that Amsel had sent that week.
"Ms. Mitousis ... saved others from a similar fate," Vanderhooft said.
Amsel testified during his trial that he was being set up by his ex-wife and others, and that evidence had been planted.
Vanderhooft told the hearing Amsel has not accepted responsibility for his actions, and recently emailed Manitoba's attorney general, alleging that even the judge hearing the case was out to get him.
"He continues on with these type of conspiracy theories," Vanderhooft told provincial court Judge Tracey Lord.
"He blames his lawyers. He blames the Crown. He blames Your Honour."
