Trial of former Kamloops lawyer accused in client’s killing resumes after month-long break

So far in the Crown’s submissions, court has heard that Bagabuyo and Abdullah allegedly conspired to hide more than $700,000 of Abdullah’s retirement savings during his divorce from his ex-wife. But the money held in trust by Bagabuyo is now gone, reportedly spent by the lawyer on personal living expenses and other expenditures over several years.

The agreement to conceal the funds is alleged to have started in 2016, while Abdullah was entering divorce proceedings. Since then, a forensic accountant who previously testified in the trial cited a little more than $774,000 of Abdullah’s money that was transferred to Bagabuyo.

Crown described how Abdullah began asking Bagabuyo for the money to be returned to him in 2019, but was told to wait another two years. By the end of 2021, court heard testimony outlining Abdullah’s growing frustration around the delays. Eventually, the two men set a meeting for March 11, 2022 at Bagabuyo’s law office along Victoria Street in downtown Kamloops. Prior to attending this meeting, a series of WhatsApp messages read aloud in court described how Abdullah had told his fiance he’d expected this meeting to begin the process of getting his money back.

That never happened and Abdullah was murdered on March 11, 2022. He was reported missing to police several days later on March 14, 2022, after he didn’t show up to his job at Thompson Rivers University.

In the days leading up to the March 11 meeting date, store receipts from Home Depot and other retailers, along with CCTV footage, showed Butch Bagabuyo purchasing a number of items, including large Husky brand storage totes that match the storage tote Mohd Abullah’s remains were discovered in.

Crown presented video evidence from Victoria Street and other locations in the late afternoon of March 11, 2022, which showed Bagabuyo hauling a large black tote bin with a red lid down the street from his office, along with several black garbage bags, and loading the items into his Black Honda Pilot, with a passerby helping him lift the tote bin into the trunk.

On March 15, Bagabuyo’s former neighbour testified that Bagabuyo had approached him asking for help with an undisclosed matter and he agreed to rent a van in his name.

The following morning (March 16, 2022), the two men were seen on surveillance video obtained by police, meeting up in a Costco parking lot and driving around the region. The elderly neighbour accompanying Bagabuyo claimed they were searching for a site to bury a large storage tote. The pair clocked hundreds of kilometres that day, but did not find a suitable place to bury the items and agreed to meet up again on March 18.

A second attempt with the van never happened. The evening of March 17, 2022, the neighbour’s grandson became concerned about what his grandfather was getting involved with and decided to search the contents of the rental van that was in his grandparent’s driveway. He testified to finding what appeared to be human remains in the bin and called the RCMP.

Butch Bagabuyo was arrested by Kamloops RCMP on March 18, 2022 and was initially charged with indignity to human remains and released on bail, before he was formally charged with first-degree murder in 2023.

Proceedings resume

Thursday (Aug. 7), the trial picked back up again after more than a month hiatus due to scheduling conflicts amongst the legal team and judge presiding over the case.

The entirety of Thursday was spent in a voir dire process for Crown and defense to discuss what parts of the previously submitted evidence can be considered fact moving forward.

The trial is set to reconvene Friday (Aug. 8) morning for the second part of a two-day period that had been scheduled for Crown to close its case. However, defense evidence isn’t anticipated to be heard until the first week of September, when Bagabuyo is expected to testify. Closing submissions are expected the week of October 6, with a decision from Justice Kathleen Ker to follow sometime after that.

by Dylana Kneeshaw

Trial of former Kamloops lawyer accused in client’s killing resumes after month-long break

What has been heard so far

Proceedings resume

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