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

By Canadian Press on October 6, 2025.

VANCOUVER — A 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.

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.

Crown lawyer Ann Katrine Saettler then told the court that evidence has shown that Abdullah hired Bagabuyo in 2016 and the two men conspired to hide “large sums of money” during Abdullah’s separation from his wife, but Bagabuyo spent that money on his own expenses.

Saettler says Abdullah eventually grew impatient about getting his money back and Bagabuyo knew he would face “consequences,” including prison and disbarment if it was discovered the money was gone.

She says Bagabuyo concocted a plan to kill his client — a lecturer at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops — then attempted to hide the body.

Bagabuyo was arrested on March 18, 2022, shortly after the body was discovered by the grandson of an unsuspecting neighbour who Bagabuyo asked to rent a van and help him dispose of a tote where he put the body.

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

Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press