An exact knife, a 12 -inch blade and a shovel were among the almost 60 evidence presented in a Kamloop Court, BC, Monday at the trial of a lawyer accused of killing his client.
Rogelio Bagabuyo is accused of first degree murder in the death of Mohd Abdullah, professor of sciences at Thompson Rivers University.
Bagabuyo, 57, who goes through Butch’s nickname, used glasses and sat behind his lawyers in a BC Supreme Court Chamber. He took notes when Judge Kathleen Ker registered dozens of exhibitions in evidence in the judge’s trial.
The first exhibition entered were the rental documents for a budget truck in which the victim’s remains were found. The truck had been left in the Kamloop Dufferin area.
Other evidence items included a large bag of black storage bags, strings, disposable lighters, cables and black garbage bags with cut holes.
An index card with handwritten notes was also presented as evidence that contained information about a Vancouver flight to New York City and the words “Bague Eventhing After”, “Do not bring phone and electronic surveillance”, “deactivates the applications” and “the location services dull”.
There were also a battery of documents containing 28 pages of email between the victim and the defendant, as well as the will of the victim and the power documents of 2016, signed by Abdullah and his then lawyer Bagabuyo.
At one point, the court had to take a break to find lighter bags to contain evidence.
Abdullah, a 60 -year -old computer professor, was reported as disappeared on March 14, 2022, when he did not appear to work in TRU.
Three days later, his body was found, and Bagabuyo was accused of interfering with human remains.
Shortly after Abdullah’s death, Abdullah’s son -in -law told CBC News that Bagabuyo had been Abdullah’s “friend of trusted”. Abdullah’s daughter, Sarah Jeet Lalata-Buco, said her father was a quiet and kind man.
More than a year later, in May 2023, Bagabuyo was accused of murder. It has been free on bail since July 2023.
Abdullah worked at the University for 21 years and played an important role in the Faculty of Science and Open Learning, according to a university statement in 2022.
The crown is scheduled to make opening arguments on Tuesday.
