Image Credit: Curtis Goodrum / CFJC Today

By Dylana Kneeshaw

BAGABUYO MURDER TRIAL

‘He was very distraught’: Testimony describes victim’s frustration trying to get $700K back from lawyer

May 2, 2025 | 4:29 PM

KAMLOOPS — The last day of proceedings in Kamloops before the trial moves to Vancouver saw another witness testify to the distraught state the victim was in while trying to get his money back.

What has been heard so far:

Rogelio ‘Butch’ Bagabuyo, a former lawyer in the city, is charged with first-degree murder in relation to the killing of Mohd Abdullah, who was a lecturer at Thompson Rivers University, and a client of Bagabuyo’s.

Abdullah was stabbed to death on March 11, 2022, and Crown lawyers allege the slaying took place in Bagabuyo’s law office on Victoria Street that afternoon, at a previously arranged meeting between the two men.

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That meeting allegedly stemmed from Abdullah attempting to have more than $700,000 of his money returned to him, after he and Bagabuyo arranged to hide the funds to keep it from Abdullah’s ex-wife during his divorce.

On Thursday (May 1), a Manulife fund manager answered questions from Crown and defense lawyers around a document included in case evidence which shows a transfer of funds from Abdullah, paid in trust to Bagabuyo & Company.

During the trial, Crown counsel presented a series of video compilations obtained by Kamloops RCMP showing Bagabuyo purchasing a large storage tote, and several other items from multiple trips to Home Depot, and Princess Auto, on March 1, and March 10, 2022. After the scheduled meeting on March 11, 2022, Bagabuyo was also captured on surveillance video bringing the storage tote, and several large black garbage bags down Victoria Street from his office, and accepting help from a passerby to load the items into the SUV.

Several days after this on March 15, 2022, Bagabuyo is alleged to have asked an unwitting elderly friend to help him rent a cargo van, and attempt to bury the storage tote the following day (March 16, 2022).

The evening of March 17, 2022, the elderly friend’s grandson testified that he’d grown suspicious about what his grandfather was asked to do, and opened the lid of the storage tote kept in the cargo van, which was parked in the driveway of their Dufferin home. After seeing a foot and a leg, the grandson told court he called 9-1-1, and RCMP responded.

New testimony:

Friday (May 2), a new witness was called to testify, a former CIBC branch manager and financial advisor to Mohd Abdullah. He described Abdullah’s financial situation to ‘be in good shape’, and ‘he was anxious to learn about financial planning and be a part of the planning process’.

Of Abdullah’s accounts and investments, the witness says he was made aware of approximately $715,000 held with Bagabuyo. Crown prosecutor Ann Katrine Saettler asked if he know why the money was held with his client’s lawyer.

“He (Abdullah) had an estate issue where his ex-wife had passed away and there were other people on the estate from the ex-wife’s side of the family so he wanted to shield it from them,” replied the witness, who also explained that Abdullah had told him the money needed to be with his lawyer for ‘a couple of years’, before it could be released.

After the initial fund transfer was delayed, the witness says Abdullah grew more anxious.

“He was very distraught and getting very concerned about the release of the funds in question.”

The witness described that his client had also told him about a meeting he’d planned with Bagabuyo, and an accountant for a Friday afternoon in March of 2022, to set up the transfer of Abdullah’s money.

Defense lawyer Mark Swartz asked if he understood the money held by Bagabuyo was to be added to Abdullah’s retirement fund, and the witness confirmed that was the plan. Court also heard that the additional funds would have made it feasible for Abdullah to retire at 65 years old in 2026.

“It (the fund transfer) was expected in December (of 2021), and it did not happen so he was getting quite anxious about the money being released to him,” the witness stated.

Swartz asked if the witness felt Abdullah was frantic and upset around the release of the money, which he agreed with, and confirmed at the time he had also feared for Abdullah’s mental health.

Friday (May 2) is scheduled to be the last day of in-person proceedings for Kamloops Law Courts, before the rest of the trial is set to move to Vancouver.