Former Kamloops lawyer convicted of first-degree murder in client’s 2022 death

But during Bagabuyo’s first-degree murder trial in BC Supreme Court, a judge heard Bagabuyo spent that money and, in the years leading up to the killing, orchestrated an elaborate fraud to avoid telling Abdullah the money was gone. The lawyer had spent the money on personal expenses and a home renovation project.

In a trial that played out over several months last year, Bagabuyo’s lawyers argued Abdullah attacked their client at that fateful March 11 meeting, enraged that Bagabuyo had strung him along and would never be returning his money. The defence argued the killing was an act of self-defence.

Investigators, though, found a mountain of evidence pointing to Bagabuyo’s premeditation, including a number of items the lawyer purchased ahead of that meeting that were eventually used in the killing. Those included a Husky storage tote that was later discovered in the back of a rental van parked in a Dufferin cul-de-sac, with Abdullah’s lifeless body inside. Investigators also uncovered a ‘to-do’ list ostensibly written by Bagabuyo to remind himself what he needed to do to cover up the killing.

In court Tuesday (Feb. 3), BC Supreme Court Justice Kathleen Ker conceded the Crown’s entire case against Bagabuyo was circumstantial. However, she ruled all of that evidence taken in totality was enough to leave no doubt in her mind Bagabuyo’s actions were planned and deliberate — and were intended to result in Mohd Abdullah’s death. Ker added the absence of defensive wounds on Bagabuyo spoke loudly against the defence theory that Abdullah was the first to attack and Bagabuyo was acting in self-defence.

Bagabuyo sat motionless for hours as Ker summarized the evidence and read out her analysis of the case. He displayed no emotion when the verdict was read, not unlike his demeanor caught on security cameras in the moments after he killed his client and prepared his body for disposal. Tuesday, Bagabuyo chose not to address the court after the verdict was read.

Abdullah’s fiancée, Elisabeth Sumartha, was present in the courtroom, having travelled to Kamloops from Jakarta, Indonesia to see justice done. She spent much of Tuesday’s hearing bent over with her head in her hands, listening to Ker give the reasons for her judgment.

With the first-degree murder conviction, Bagabuyo will be given a mandatory life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years.

by James Peters

Former Kamloops lawyer convicted of first-degree murder in client’s 2022 death

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