Samir Abdelgadir gave a statement to police when he was arrested in May 2020 saying that he had never driven a black Chevy Tahoe nor a White Mercedes SUV and was out of the province at the time a 14-year-old North York boy was abducted on the morning of March 4, 2020.
At the closing arguments of Abdelgadir’s kidnapping trial, assistant Crown attorney Erin Pancer told Superior Court Justice Sandra Nishikawa that Abdelgadir was lying.
Pancer told the judge that Abdelgadir was the lone person seen leaving a home near the QEW and Hurontario Street around 7:20 a.m. that day, captured by a covert camera that was placed there by the OPP doing surveillance in an unrelated investigation.
Pancer submits that Abdelgadir who lived in the home with his mother got into the Tahoe and drove off, rendezvousing with a white Mercedes SUV and a black Jeep Wrangler before the three vehicles drove toward 345 Driftwood Avenue, where the boy was grabbed by two men, forced him into the Jeep as the child was yelling for help.
The three vehicles were then seen driving off towards Jane and Steeles before it was conceded that the boy was driven to a home in Brampton, where he was forcibly confined in the boiler room of the home.
According to an agreed statement of facts, the kidnappers took his phone and contacted his half-brother using his phone via Snapchat and made a ransom demand. The half-brother provided investigators with two voice recordings and two Snapchat videos he received from the kidnappers in which they say, “We have your brother, give back what you have”.
The black Tahoe is not seen arriving at the property where the boy is being held against his will until 5:30 p.m.
The Crown submits that the child was kidnapped because his half-brother had stolen 90 kg worth of cocaine from two drug traffickers he worked for in June 2019 and they wanted to get back at him. Pancer argued that Abdelgadir was a close associate of the traffickers.
“That would have been his motive; their motive was his motive,” Pancer explained.
The boy was eventually located 38 hours after his abduction, following an Amber Alert, in a rural farmhouse in Brampton wearing a construction vest and his underwear. He was barefoot but unharmed.
Pancer also pointed to evidence given by the boy’s half-brother, when he testified via Zoom from a remote location.
“He testified that he recognized the voice of Samir Abdelgadir on the call but that he was unable to record it. He said it was distinctive. He delivered drugs to him two to three times a month, spoke to him on the phone and did it over a nine-month period,” Pancer said, arguing that there is no evidence the half-brother had a reason to lie.
“The person on the phone was Samir. It is submitted he is in the best place to determine it was him.”
The Crown also argued that Abdelgadir is the person seen driving the white Mercedes SUV on Feb. 29, four days before the kidnapping.
“I would submit it’s apparent on the face of the evidence that every single person who drove to 346 Driftwood knew the plan and what was going on,” said Pancer.
Pancer told the judge if she didn’t find that Abdelgadir was driving the Tahoe that day, she could also find him guilty based on the evidence that he secreted the Tahoe at his residence and provided the Tahoe to someone who did.
Pancer explained that there were multiple people involved in the kidnapping and it was well-planned.
“The Crown’s position was that this was a large undertaking. Samir Abdelgdir is the only person left facing the charge.”
She told the court that because the boy was not reported missing for nine hours after the half-brother called his mother to say his brother had been kidnapped, a lot of evidence was lost. Pancer explained that if it were not for the OPP investigation and the surveillance that was underway, she wouldn’t know if they would be prosecuting Abdelgadir.
Defence lawyer Manbir Sodhi argued the Crown’s case is full of gaps and there is plenty of reasonable doubt. A date for a verdict to be delivered will be decided on Wednesday.