Former B.C. lawyer admits to killing client, but claims manslaughter, court hears

The Law Courts building, which is home to B.C. Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, is seen in Vancouver, on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

A former lawyer from Kamloops, B.C., accused of first-degree murder in the death of his client admits to killing the man but says it should be manslaughter, his lawyer told the court on Monday.

As closing arguments were about to start at the trial of Rogelio ‘Butch’ Bagabuyo, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Kathleen Ker confirmed with the accused’s lawyer that his written submissions are that his client concedes to killing Mohd Abdullah, but that he should be convicted of the lesser charge.

“That is correct,” Mark Swartz told the judge.

However, Crown lawyer Ann Katrine Saettler told the judge-alone trial in her closing submissions that Bagabuyo concocted a plan to kill his client, then attempted to hide the body.

She said he took steps to prepare for the murder, including constructing a handmade garrote and purchasing equipment, such as a hacksaw and a large tote where he could store the body.

Saettler told the court that Abdullah, a lecturer at Thompson Rivers University, hired Bagabuyo in 2016, who was working as a lawyer in Kamloops at the time.

The two men conspired to hide “large sums of money” during Abdullah’s separation from his wife, she said.

“The evidence has shown that Mr. Bagabuyo squandered the money on his own living expenses and would have been unable to return the funds,” she said.

Abdullah’s wife died in September 2019 before they could divorce, but Bagabuyo convinced him “it was necessary to leave the funds in his care for two more years” to protect the money from his wife’s estate or family, Saettler told the judge.

But Saettler said Abdullah eventually grew impatient about getting his money back.

In her closing submission, Saettler showed the court emails and a 2021 audio recording where Abdullah pressed Bagabuyo about the money.

“I’ve been very patient,” Abdullah is heard saying.

“What do you want? My life?,” he later asks.

The court also heard that Bagabuyo fabricated other lies to delay the return of the funds, including the need to set up shell corporations that never existed but required Abdullah to transfer more money, as well as concerns about the Canadian Revenue Agency.

“That is another calm, deliberate and calculated lie by Mr. Bagabuyo to Mr. Abdullah to further put him off in his expectations of getting (the money) back,” Saettler said.

She told the court that the Crown’s theory is that “by March 1, 2022, Mr. Bagabuyo knew he would not be able to continue to fool Mr. Abdullah much longer.”

Saettler cited an email she described as “aggressive” that Bagabuyo sent to Abdullah in setting their March 11 meeting.

“He had decided the only way to escape the consequences of having defrauded Mr. Abdullah — consequences that he surely understood would very likely include disbarment, disgrace, prosecution and prison — was to kill Mr. Abdullah and dispose of the body.”

She said Bagabuyo was the executor of Abdullah’s will and the power of attorney over his financial matters.

“If no one knew Mr. Abdullah was dead, Mr. Bagabuyo was in a position to live off of Mr. Abdullah’s remaining substantial finances,” Saettler told the court.

Saettler said the Crown’s theory is that Bagabuyo stabbed Abdullah to death on March 11, 2022, when he arrived for a meeting at the lawyer’s office, which was under restoration after a fire.

“He fashioned a homemade garrote and brought it with him to the office as a device to ensure Mr. Abdullah was dead after he was disabled by the stabbing.

“The Crown’s theory is that Mr. Bagabuyo planned to remove the body by concealing it in a large plastic bin which he purchased on March 1,” Saettler said, adding that he also obtained a second, identical bin as a “decoy” that he filled with legal papers.

After the murder, the Crown said Bagabuyo wrapped Abdullah’s body in plastic sheeting, put the garrote around his neck, placed him in the bin and secured it with ratchet straps. He then hauled the bin into his car.

“What Mr. Bagabuyo did with Mr. Abdullah’s body between the evening of March 11 and March 15 remains uncertain,” she said.

Saettler said it is believed he initially brought the tote into his backyard.

“It is likely that the body was left somewhere outside and remained cold, slowing the decomposition process.”

She said he purchased a propane tank and other items he planned to use to dispose of the body, including a hacksaw and blades.

But, she said, his plans for disposal changed when he was contacted by police on March 15 about Abdullah being missing.

That, she said, “accelerated his plan to dispose of the body” and sought the help of an unsuspecting neighbour, who he convinced to rent a van and help him dispose of the tote where he put the body.

Bagabuyo was arrested on March 18, 2022, the day after the body was discovered inside the tote by the neighbour’s grandson.

Bagabuyo, who has been out on bail during the trial, attended court on Monday wearing a black suit.

A conviction for first-degree murder results in a sentence of life in prison without chance of parole for 25 years, while there is no mandatory sentence for manslaughter unless a firearm is used.

The B.C. Law Society says Bagabuyo is no longer a practising lawyer and a custodian was appointed to wind up his legal practice in May 2022.

Crown is expected continue its closing arguments Tuesday.

This report by Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press, was first published Oct. 6, 2025.