Bagabuyo murder trial continues with meticulous detailing of items seized during initial police investigation

VANCOUVER — A lengthy first-degree murder trial for a former Kamloops lawyer accused of killing his client resumed this week out of Vancouver Criminal Law Courts.
Rogelio ‘Butch’ Bagabuyo is charged in the March 2022 homicide of former Thompson Rivers University lecturer Mohd Abdullah.
It’s alleged the two men conspired to hide more than $700,000 of Abdullah’s money from his ex-wife, with Crown lawyers claiming evidence from a forensic accountant in upcoming trial proceedings will show Bagabuyo spent the money himself.
Crown opening statements portrayed a frustrated Abdullah’s desire to get his retirement savings back from his lawyer, prompting the March 11, 2022 meeting at Bagabuyo’s law office on Victoria Street where it’s alleged Abdullah was stabbed to death.
Bagabuyo is alleged to have put Abdullah’s body into a large storage tote he’d bought from Home Depot in the days leading up to that meeting. Several days after the death, Bagabuyo reportedly recruited the help of an unwitting elderly friend to rent a van and look for a place to bury the storage tote. This led to the elderly friend’s suspicious grandson discovering the contents of the tote and police being called.
In Vancouver Law Courts Monday, Crown prosecutors continued to dive into scene-setting details through RCMP testimony.
Cst. Julie Rattee of Kamloops RCMP was called to testify. Her involvement in the homicide investigation included searching Butch Bagabuyo’s Honda Pilot, a Toyota Sienna van and a third vehicle — a Chevy Silverado pick-up. Cst. Rattee described all three vehicles as belonging to Bagabuyo and answered questions around a variety of items police seized from the vehicle, including garbage bags and disposable gloves.
The officer also spoke to items found under a bed during a search of Bagabuyo’s Columbia Street home in the days that followed his arrest. According to details outlined in Monday’s testimony, police found a safe under the bed which contained $1,140 in U.S cash, an expired passport for the Philippines in Bagabuyo’s name, banking and personal documents.
One of those banking statements, for June of 2021, cited $105,528.36 in Bagabuyo’s savings account, followed by another statement for July of 2021 showing that account had dropped to a balance of $90,017.60. Evidence relating to the finances of both Bagabuyo and Abdullah have been discussed several times during proceedings.
Later this week, an expert in blood-spatter analysis is also expected to testify about the state of Bagabuyo’s law office, where the killing allegedly took place.