WINDSOR, ONT. A Windsor man has been sentenced to life in prison for a ‘brutal attack’ on an elderly woman on the Ganatchio Trail. Habibullah “Daniel” Ahmadi, 24, was sentenced to life in prison by Justice Bruce Thomas Thursday. Ahmadi cannot apply for parole until he has served 13 years behind bars. Ahmadi was convicted in Nov. 2020 of second degree murder in the death of Sara Ann Widholm, 75. She was attacked on Oct. 8, 2017, while she collected garbage along the Ganatchio Trail in east Windsor. Thomas described it as a “savage beating on this defenceless elderly woman.” “He punched her in the face, causing her to drop down face first. While Sara Ann Widholm begged him to stop, he rained down approximately 20 blows to the back of her head, including elbow strikes. He then picked up her head and slammed it into the ground on several occasions,” Thomas read.
WINDSOR, ONT. Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens has written a “community victim statement” for the sentencing of Habibullah “Danny” Ahmadi. The 24-year-old was convicted of second degree murder in November in the beating of Sara Ann Widholm, 75. On Oct. 8, 2017, Widholm was attacked while walking on the Ganatchio Trail just before 8 a.m. The attack “shocked the community to its core,” the mayor wrote in his statement. Defence lawyer, Patricia Brown, believes the mayor’s entire statement should not be considered because it offers opinions about the nature of the crime, which are not true. Brown acknowledges the mayor’s thoughts about the community impact of the attack are justified, but says his words “crimes like the savage beating of Sara Ann just don’t happen in the City of Windsor, are inaccurate.