‘I’ve had enough, Butch’: Recording of heated conversation highlights tension between Kamloops murder victim, lawyer

KAMLOOPS — The first-degree murder trial for former Kamloops lawyer Rogelio ‘Butch’ Bagabuyo accused in the death of his client, Mohd Abdullah, saw witness testimony Monday (May 12) from the victim’s fiancée and a recording of a heated conversation between the victim and the accused.

Out of Vancouver Law Courts Monday morning, Crown witness Elisabeth Sumartha (48) answered questions with the help of an Indonesian interpreter.

Sumartha says she met Abdullah online and they first met in person in Bangkok in December of 2019, after Abdullah’s ex-wife had passed away. Sumartha says their relationship grew serious from there, with regular video calls and conversations over WhatsApp. The woman had been working to acquire a visa to move to Canada, and the two got engaged, planning to marry in July of 2022.

Asked by Crown lawyer Ann Katrine Saettler about Abdullah’s personal finances, Sumartha says Abdullah would sometimes share details with her about it.

“Mohd told me about his anxiety or worries concerning his financial affairs since 2021,” Sumartha’s reply described through the interpreter. “I would just listen to what he was telling me. He seemed both stressed and depressed by the situation.”

Sumartha says Abdullah had discussed wanting to make her a beneficiary and put her into his will, seeking help from his lawyer. Saettler then showed an email from Abdullah to Sumartha, with a digital file of Abdullah’s will attached to it.

Sumartha says Abdullah had mentioned being concerned previously about losing a large amount of his retirement savings to divorce proceedings.

“Did he do anything to avoid that?” Saettler asked.

“Yes. He said that he believed in his lawyer, who was a close friend,” the interpreter translated from Sumartha. “He believed in his lawyer’s ability or willingness to place his savings correctly.”

At one point, Saettler asked Sumartha about an instance when she and Abdullah were having dinner together over video chat in November of 2021, and Bagabuyo stopped by. Sumartha testified that Abdullah told her he was going to record the conversation and email it to her afterwards.

The recording of that interaction was played in court.

On it, Bagabuyo is heard explaining to Abdullah that a family relative died, so he would be going to the Philippines and not returning until December 23, 2021.

Abdullah asked when he would get the funds and Bagabuyo was heard replying, “Some time after that.”

Abdullah repeatedly asked about another potential delay or issues with the Canada Revenue Agency and expresses concern around it taking even more time to get his money back.

“We did that for a reason,” said Bagabuyo at one point.

“I understand where you’re coming from. Trust me, I do. That’s why I needed to come here to let you know that,” he continued.

Abdullah compared the situation to a ‘carrot on a stick’ and repeatedly expressed frustration at the uncertainty around when his money would be returned to him.

“What the f— is going on? I mean, I’m pissed off,” Abdullah said at one point.

“I come to a point where like, I’ve had enough. I’ve had enough, Butch,” an exasperated Abdullah is heard on the recording before asking how much more time.

As the conversation continued, Bagabuyo is heard urging Abdullah to think positively and saying he doesn’t want to see Abdullah have a nervous breakdown over it.

Defense lawyer Mark Swartz presented an email Abdullah sent to Sumartha the following day (Dec. 1, 2021), with the recording attached. A portion of the email read out in court reads: “[Sumartha] — the recordings note I was very angry, especially towards the end. This is what happens when someone pushes me towards the wall and suffocates me.”

Swartz also asked Sumartha about Abdullah’s spending habits. She replied that the financial situation with Bagabuyo was causing Abdullah a lot of stress.

Swartz followed up with questions around whether Abdullah began lending Sumartha money in June of 2020, which she confirmed. An email between Abdullah and Sumartha in July of 2021 was then presented, outlining amounts of money Abdullah had sent to her between 2020 and 2021. Sumartha explained she wanted to pay Abdullah back, despite him telling her he did not expect or want her to do that.

Over that year, the money Abdullah sent her allegedly amounted to a little more than $8,500 CAD. Sumartha claimed she stopped needing the money because her work hours returned to normal.

During this time, Sumartha said the couple continued planning for her to come to Canada with Abdullah wanting to retire in 2026.

One of Abdullah’s former financial advisors previously testified that Abdullah had wanted to have these funds added to his retirement plan, which would have made a 2026 retirement feasible.

Sumartha explained to Crown that the last time she heard from Abdullah was from a text message he sent her just before 11:30 a.m. on the day he was killed.

“In the text, Mohd did not say that he had a meeting. He did indicate there were things that he could not tell me. He asked that I not judge him and he felt grateful for my having been with him for all this time,” Sumartha explains through the interpreter.

Sumartha replied around 3:30 p.m. PST, and says she could see her message to Abdullah had been delivered but had not been read. She said she continued to send messages but, eventually, the thread showed they were not being delivered.

After not hearing from Abdullah all weekend, Sumartha said she messaged several of Abdullah’s close friends over email to see where he was, as he was expected to give a lecture at Thompson Rivers University that Monday (March 14, 2022). At this point, Sumartha said she asked one of his friends to contact the police and report Abdullah as a missing person.

Abdullah’s body was discovered several days later, reportedly in a storage tote kept inside a rental van parked outside the home of an unwitting elderly friend Bagabuyo had recruited help from to try and hide the tote bin.

Testimony was also provided Monday by Sgt. Christopher Elwood, who was working with Kamloops RCMP’s Forensic Identification Unit at the onset of the homicide investigation.

He attended the scene at the Dufferin home where the van was parked as the lead forensic investigator. The bulk of Elwood’s comments were in relation to a series of photo evidence of the scene and the information gathered for Abdullah’s eventual autopsy.

Proceedings will continue out of Vancouver this week. The trial is set to wrap up in June.