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New details in U.S. woman’s appeal of sentence in Valentine’s Day plot

HALIFAX — New court documents reveal details of how one of the masterminds of a foiled plot to attack a Halifax mall on Valentine’s Day plans to appeal her life sentence.
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File photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS Lindsay Souvannarath arrives at provincial court for a preliminary hearing in Halifax.

HALIFAX — New court documents reveal details of how one of the masterminds of a foiled plot to attack a Halifax mall on Valentine’s Day plans to appeal her life sentence.

Lindsay Souvannarath is serving life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years for plotting to kill shoppers at one of Atlantic Canada’s busiest malls on Feb. 14, 2015 — four years ago Thursday.

The 27-year-old American conspired to throw Molotov cocktails into the food court at the Halifax Shopping Centre and then open fire, planning to end the massacre by committing suicide.

Documents filed this week with the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal lay out four grounds for appeal, including that the sentence was excessive for a youthful offender with no record and that it reflected the range for terrorism offences rather than conspiracy to commit murder.

Court documents also claim it was unjust to expect the accused to prove she was remorseful and renounce her anti-social beliefs, and that the sentence was dramatically longer than that imposed on an accomplice.

Her main co-conspirator was found dead in his home on the eve of the planned attack, while a third accomplice, the so-called cheerleader of the plot, was sentenced to a decade in jail.

The plot — dubbed “Der Untergang,” or The Downfall — was concocted after Souvannarath developed an online relationship with Halifax teen James Gamble.