Calgary drug dealer Samere Mehari planned and carried out the gangland-style slaying of a rival seller, a judge ruled Friday.
Justice Sandy Park said there was no doubt Mehari was the gunman captured on video surveillance cameras ambushing Efrem Kuflom.
Kuflom was shot once in the chest shortly before noon on Aug. 18, 2008, as he turned his car into a Beltline-area alley behind a Tim Hortons outlet.
Park agreed with Crown prosecutors Sue Kendall and Ryan Claxton the gunman was the same individual identified as Mehari inside the Tim's by those who knew him.
Defence lawyer Joan Blumer argued the jacket worn by the killer wasn't Mehari's because it appeared to be different in colour to her client's.
But Park accepted that lighting conditions made the jacket look multi-coloured, when it in fact was Mehari's black and white hoody.
He convicted Mehari, 30, of first-degree murder, which carries an automatic life sentence without parole for a minimum 25 years.
The murder and the moments leading up to it were captured on two separate cameras mounted outside the Tim's coffee shop.
The first shows an individual behind the shop laying in wait for the victim.
During the 3 1/2-minute footage the gunman can be seen donning a mask and pulling his weapon from a backpack before pouncing on his victim.
The second camera shows the shooter leaving his hiding spot and approaching Kuflom's car before firing on the deceased.
One witness testified Mehari said that morning he had a "beef" with the deceased, but Park dismissed the claim saying Lamesa Rare was disreputable and possibly an accomplice as he called Kuflom to come to the Tim's that morning to buy drugs from him.
The evidence against suspected Calgary killer Semere Mehari is “overwhelming,” a prosecutor said Wednesday, in seeking a conviction for first-degree murder.
Crown lawyer Ryan Claxton said Justice Sandy Park should have little doubt ruling Mehari is the hooded gunman captured on surveillance video gunning down drug dealer Efrem Kuflom.
Claxton said while the shooter’s hoodie appears to have a greyish tint, Park should accept it’s the same clothing Mehari is captured wearing minutes earlier on indoor footage.
“We have to apply our common sense to this issue of colour,” Claxton said.
He said surveillance on several cameras in a Beltline-area Tim Hortons and nearby Mac’s store shows Mehari wearing the distinctive black and white jacket.
“No one else on the videos had a hood, or a hoodie, or for that matter long sleeves,” Claxton said, of the images showing customers going in and out of the two establishments that warm summer day.
Mehari, 31, is charged with first-degree murder in the Aug. 18, 2008, shooting death of Kuflom in an alley behind the 12 Ave. S.W. Tim Hortons.
Video from two separate surveillance cameras caught the gunman lying in wait behind the coffee shop before pulling his gun out, running up to Kuflom’s car and shooting him.
But defence lawyer Joan Blumer said Park should have a doubt her client is the gunman because of the difference in colour on the videos and the questionable evidence of two key witnesses.
Blumer said Park should dismiss the testimony of both Lamesa Rare and Paulos Kahsay.
Rare said Mehari asked him to get Kuflom to come to the area for a drug deal and told him he had a beef with the deceased.
Kahsay said he dropped Mehari in the alley behind the Tim Hortons less than a minute before the gunman appears on a video camera mounted above the back door.
Park will hand down is verdict on March 12.
Two video surveillance cameras combined to capture a hooded gunman run up to a car and shoot its driver.
Former Calgary homicide Det. Geoff Brydges described the videos played in court on Tuesday, showing the last moments of Efrem Kuflom’s life.
Images from both cameras were shown to Justice Sandy Park, who must decide if accused murderer Semere Mehari is the gunman caught on tape.
One angle, showing the back entrance to a Beltline Tim Hortons, captured an individual wearing a hooded jacket pacing in the area.
At one point he can be seen preparing to put on a bandana, although the angle of the camera doesn’t show the individual’s head.
The gunman can also be seen repeatedly peering around the corner of the building towards the front of the coffee shop and its parking lot.
Seconds before Kuflom drives past the alley where the suspect is waiting, the individual can be seen reaching into a backpack, drawing a gun and running off camera.
A second surveillance camera facing south towards the same corner, shows Kuflom’s black Grand Am car rounding the building just as the gunman emerges with his weapon pointed at the driver’s side window.
Kuflom died of a single gunshot wound to the chest.
Mehari, 31, is charged with first-degree murder in the Aug. 18, 2008, slaying of Kuflom, 30.
Before the image of the gunman running up to Kuflom’s car was shown, Crown prosecutor Sue Kendall offered a warning to members of the victim’s family sitting in the courtroom gallery.
“At this point in time I may be showing something that’s upsetting to the family,” she said, allowing Kuflom’s crying mother to leave the courtroom.
Brydges then described how the video showed Kuflom’s car drive south towards the back alley before turning eastbound where the gunman emerged.
In the other angle, in the seconds following the shooting, a black car can be seen clipping a dumpster beside the back entrance to the coffee shop.
Kuflom was found slumped in the front seat of his car after crashing through a chain link fence nearby.
Mehari’s trial continues on Wednesday.
I agree with the Judge's decision. I have no doubt that this man was the killer.
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