The highly-publicized trial of a former lawyer from Kamloops, B.C., who stands accused of murdering his client has reached its conclusion at the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.
Rogelio ‘Butch’ Bagabuyo is facing charges in connection with the death of Mohd Abdullah, a lecturer at Thompson Rivers University, which occurred on March 11, 2022.
Following the completion of closing arguments and rebuttals, Justice Kathleen Ker announced on Thursday her decision that the verdict should be delivered in Kamloops, the location where Abdullah tragically lost his life.
During the trial, it was revealed that Abdullah had hired Bagabuyo in 2016, and together they allegedly schemed to conceal money during Abdullah’s divorce proceedings. However, Bagabuyo purportedly misappropriated over $780,000 of the funds meant to be hidden.
In her closing statement, Crown prosecutor Ann Katrine Saettler asserted that the accused meticulously orchestrated the murder over a span of more than a week, prompted by Abdullah’s growing impatience to reclaim his funds.
Contrarily, Defence lawyer Mark Swartz contended that the death was unforeseen and argued that his client, while admitting to killing Abdullah at his office, should be charged with manslaughter instead of first-degree murder.
Bagabuyo was taken into custody on March 18, 2022, a day after Abdullah’s body was found in a container by a family friend’s grandson, who had unwittingly assisted in the disposal process at Bagabuyo’s behest.
Initially arrested for desecration of human remains, Bagabuyo was later formally charged with first-degree murder over a year later.
The B.C. Law Society has since revoked Bagabuyo’s legal license.
Since July 12, 2023, Bagabuyo has been out on bail awaiting the trial’s conclusion.