Drug dealer brutally murdered, dismembered
By MEGAN GILLIS, QMI Agency
OTTAWA -- A cocaine dealer was lured to a remote road where he was shot in the head, bludgeoned and his hand carved off because he wanted to cut out the “middleman” now on trial for his murder, the Crown told a jury Monday.
Fadi Saleh, 32, is charged with the first-degree murder of Hussein El-Hajj Hassan, 27, on Aug. 20, 2004.
Hassan, a father of three who sold $200,000 worth of cocaine a week, thought he was meeting with a top Hells Angel to fix problems with the Cornwall drug trade, prosecutor Dallas Mack said the jury will hear.
There was no meeting.
Saleh — Hassan’s supplier — had learned the rising dealer had given $170,000 directly to Saleh’s Toronto source, Rafei Ebrekdjian.
Saleh stood to lose $50,000 to $70,000 a month.
Hassan was taken by his associate Mark Yegin to a meeting with Saleh and Shant Esrabian, Mack said.
About $170,000 cash later arrived at Saleh’s Gatineau home.
It was a “planned and deliberate” plot to kill, Mack said.
The jury may be uncertain who shot Hassan in the head, who smashed his skull and who cut off his hand before he was buried in a shallow grave, Mack said.
“It does not matter,” he said. “If Mr. Saleh was part of the plot to kill Hussein, then whether or not he pulled the trigger is of no consequence.”
Yegin would lead police to Hassan’s grave off Panmure Rd. 10 months later.
Both Esrabian, who was convicted of first-degree murder, and Yegin, who was acquitted, will be called as witnesses.
Hassan’s widow, Soumia Labrouki, testified Monday her husband expected to buy seven kilograms of cocaine.
On his final day alive, he played with his kids and went grocery shopping. He said he was meeting with “Sasquatch” but wouldn’t be late.
She never saw him again.
Labrouki — six or seven months pregnant — met with Ebrekdjian and Saleh at a nightclub to find out what happened. The men were paranoid that she was recording their conversation and Saleh raged about her “missing” husband.
“He showed that night a lot of anger,” Labrouki said.
“(Saleh) said he didn’t think (Hassan) was taking this business seriously — he thinks he’s selling tomatoes or potatoes. He’s stealing from people.”
She testified that Saleh also threatened that if she mentioned his name to police, “who hurts me, I will hurt them.”
megan.gillis@sunmedia.ca
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