Chinese national pleads guilty to 2022 deadly stabbing on TTC subway

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A man who fatally stabbed a woman on a TTC subway train more than two years ago pleaded guilty ahead of his trial.

Neng Jia Jin pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and attempted murder in the Dec. 8, 2022 attack that killed Vanessa Kurpiewska, 31, while the train was stopped at High Park station.

Kurpiewska was on her way home from an appointment when she was stabbed. She was rushed to hospital but died of her injuries.

Jin entered his guilty pleas to both counts in Superior Court on Monday at a pre-trial hearing, the Ministry of the Attorney General confirmed to the Toronto Sun.

The Chinese national also admitted to trying to kill another woman on the train, 37-year-old Sulakshana Srijeyarayah, who survived the attack.

Jin remained inside the subway car holding the weapon until two police officers arrived and Tasered him after he refused repeated requests to get on the ground, the Sun previously reported.

He admitted that he did not know either of the victims.

Less than four months after Kurpiewska’s slaying, in March 2023, 16-year-old Gabriel Magalhaes was fatally stabbed at Keele station.

Kurpiewska’s murder was one of several shocking, random attacks on the TTC in 2022 — many committed by people suffering from mental illness.

In April 2022, Shamsa Al-Balushi was pushed in front of a subway train at Bloor-Yonge station. She later sued the TTC for $1 million.

Two months after that attack, 28-year-old Nyima Dolma was set on fire on a TTC bus at Kipling station. She died 18 days after the horrific, random attack.

Her attacker, Tenzin Norbu, was found not criminally responsible last year, Michele Mandel reported at the time, and had likely been suffering from schizophrenia for at least a decade.

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In the case of Kurpiewska’s killer, Jin denied having mental health issues, telling Superior Court Justice Joan Barrett that he wanted revenge because a doctor left him blinded, and no lawyer would help him sue the doctor, Global News reported.

“That lawyer told me because I had no status, I cannot take another doctor to court,” Jin said through the interpreter, explaining that he wanted “revenge.”

When the judge asked Jin why he was pleading guilty, he explained, “Because I killed that lady. That is why I’m pleading guilty.”

The matter is returning to court to be spoken to on March 14, and again on March 20 for sentencing submissions, the Ministry of the Attorney General said.