Video surveillance details laid out in fifth trial day of former Kamloops lawyer accused in homicide of TRU lecturer

KAMLOOPS — The fifth day of a Supreme Court trial for a former Kamloops lawyer facing a first degree murder charge saw another round of video surveillance clips showing some of the more than 600 kilometres driven in an unsuccessful attempt to allegedly find a place to bu

ry the storage tote containing the victim’s remains.

Rogelio ‘Butch’ Bagabuyo is charged in relation to the homicide of former Thompson Rivers University lecturer Mohd Abdullah. Abdullah was also a former client of Bagabuyo’s while he’d been going through a divorce.

Last week, prosecution opening statements claimed that Abdullah had arranged to have Bagabuyo move more than $700,000 of his funds to prevent his ex-wife from receiving the money in their divorce settlement. Opening statements also made mention of that money being spent on Bagabuyo’s personal living expenses, but as of Tuesday (April 22), details around that claim haven’t been divulged in court.

Both Crown and Rogelio ‘Butch’ Bagabuyo’s lawyers spent most of Tuesday’s session confirming details of the whereabouts of Bagabuyo, and the white Budget rental van used to transport the storage tote, in the days before and after Abdullah’s murder.

Kamloops RCMP Cpl. David Marshall returned to provide testimony relating to the surveillance clips outlining some of the rental van’s route on March 16, 2022. He also testified about video footage taken from Princess Auto on March 13, 2022, which was accepted among the Admissions of Fact for the trial.

The Princess Auto video from inside the store that morning shows an individual in dark clothing entering and putting on a medical face mask, before purchasing a tarp and other items from the store, and loading them into a Black Honda Pilot in the parking lot.

Another witness, an employee of Peace of Mind Security systems, answered questions from Crown lawyer Ann Katrine Saettler about the alarm system used for Bagabuyo’s law office.

She cited a fire event at the office space that had been listed in the panel report from September of 2021, and the measures taken afterwards to ensure there weren’t issues with the security panel or alarm system.

Questions from Crown saw the witness confirm several instances over the months leading up to Abdullah’s death where Bagabuyo’s specific code was routinely used to disarm, and arm the system. She also spoke to multiple documentations of routine alarm tests to ensure there weren’t issues with the security system.

The panel report for March 11, 2022 showed Bagabuyo’s code was used to enter the building that day, and again used to arm the panel at 5:47 p.m. that evening.

March 11, 2022 is when Mohd Abdullah was reported missing, and it’s also the date he was allegedly killed, last seen walking along Victoria Street heading to a pre-scheduled meeting at Bagabuyo’s law office.

The trial is scheduled to reconvene for the rest of this week from Kamloops Law Courts, before moving proceedings to Vancouver in May.