On July 2, Canadian authorities announced the arrest of two Canadian-born citizens in a terror plot involving pressure cooker bombs. The two suspects, who were “inspired by al Qaeda ideology,” targeted a public gathering at the British Columbia Legislature in Victoria on Canada Day, July 1.
Over the past 24 hours, details have emerged on the two suspects, John Stuart Nuttall and Amanda Marie Korody, who authorities said had “self-radicalized.” According to Nuttall’s attorney, Tom Morino, the two suspects are a couple and “refer to each other as husband and wife.”
Morino also revealed that Nuttall, born in 1974, is a “convert to Islam,” according to the Associated Press. Although Morino did not know if Korody, born in 1983, had also converted, the Toronto Star reported that “[a]n acquaintance of Korody’s from high school said she believed Korody converted to Islam about three years ago.” When Nuttall and Korody first moved into the basement dwelling “he was not a practising Muslim, but converted to Islam about two years ago,” the Vancouver Sun reported.
Korody and Nuttall have been living together for at least three years, according to CTV News. The Globe and Mail reported that Morino said Korody was with Nuttall at least five years ago.
Morino said that he was “not aware of any mosque with which he [Nuttall] is affiliated,” but according to the Vancouver Sun the suspects’ landlady said the couple “visited a local mosque and listened to radical Islamist tapes in their basement suite.” Korody would wear a burkah to the mosque, the landlady said.