Accused in hitman case says he was real target

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This article was published 09/03/2017 (3207 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Facing accusations he plotted a conspiracy to kill his business partner, a former Winnipeg convenience store owner told a judge he was the one being targeted by a hitman.

In a convoluted testimony that appeared to puzzle Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Vic Toews, Amare Gebru claimed the alleged victim — his female business partner — had hired a hitman to kill him, not the other way around.

In Gebru’s recounting, the supposed hitman forced his way into Gebru’s car, showed him a gun and confessed the deadly plan — a plan Gebru never reported to the police despite contacting them three times subsequently to complain about his business partner, court heard. Police, meanwhile, were wiretapping his phone conversations and setting up covertly recorded meetings between Gebru and the would-be hitman.

Gebru, now in his early 40s, has pleaded not guilty to counselling to commit murder and counselling to commit robbery. He is standing trial before Justice Toews on accusations that arose after his business partnership soured with the co-owner of Teddy’s convenience store on Balmoral Street.

Gebru, an immigrant from Ethiopia, bought the store and laundromat in 2011 with a younger woman who also hailed from Ethopia and was a permanent resident in Canada.

He testified he thought investing in a business would improve his chances of securing permanent residency so he could stay and support his wife and children.

The co-owner, now 31, testified earlier this week she already owned another business in Winnipeg at the time and wanted to help Gebru.

They had a 50/50 partnership, but each business partner testified the other had contributed less money to the purchase of the store and each accused the other of stealing money from the business.

Less than a year later, the work environment had turned toxic and both said they wanted out. But they couldn’t agree on a buyout plan, despite help from a business lawyer and mediators from the Ethiopian community.

In May 2012, a regular customer allegedly approached the woman while she was running the store counter and told her he had information concerning her life.

He asked how well she knew her business partner and claimed he’d been promised $10,000 to kill her, but that he didn’t feel right about it and wasn’t a killer.

He said he’d been given a list of details about her: where she goes to make bank deposits, where she lives, what time she gets off work, what kind of car she drives.

“It was shocking,” the woman said on the witness stand Monday.

“Even now thinking about it, I’m still shocked.”

 

She denied defence suggestions the scenario was flipped and she was the one who plotted to kill Gebru, whom she said had previously admitted to stealing from the store’s international money-transfer fund to pay off his personal debts.

“I’m not that kind of person. I’m not crazy enough to — I don’t even know how he thought of doing that,” she said. “It’s a business dispute. I know it’s emotional, like, it’s hard, but how do you kill somebody over money?”

She went to the police with the would-be hitman, and the younger man agreed to wear a wire the next time he met with Gebru.

On the stand Tuesday, the now-28-year-old man testified he was on bail for sexual assault and possession of brass knuckles at the time, but he said he didn’t know why Gebru asked him for his phone number to set up a meeting while he was doing his laundry at Teddy’s that day nearly five years ago. 

“I was just a regular customer. I don’t know why he came to me. He judged me and he approached me how to steal money from his partner,” the 28-year-old man said, adding Gebru initially asked him to rob his partner while she was headed to the bank to make a deposit.

“After that, he changed his mind. He says, ‘I don’t want her to be stealing money again. I just want her to be dead. So if you can be able to kill her… do it and I’ll give you money, $10,000, and I’ll sign your mortgage for you.’ ”

In secret meetings with the customer, Gebru asked him to complete “the mission,” court heard as portions of the recordings were played during the trial.

When he took the stand in his own defence Wednesday, Gebru explained what he meant by “mission.” He said after he learned the man had been hired to kill him, he concocted a plan to “trap” him by asking him “a favour.”

The favour involved asking the younger man to fire a gun inside the convenience store so Gebru could claim insurance money. Then, Gebru said, he would have enough evidence to turn the man in to police. That was the mission he said he spoke about in the audio recordings, which he acknowledged were of his voice.

He denied ever asking anyone to kill or rob his business partner. He also admitted he never told police he believed someone had been hired to kill him until after police told him they’d been recording him. He was arrested at the end of May 2012. 

“I have to say I’m puzzled,” the judge said at the end of Gebru’s time on the witness stand.

Toews questioned why the supposed hitman — who Gebru claimed had shown him a gun a day earlier and said he’d been hired to kill him — would agree to shoot up the convenience store for no financial reward.

“He’s doing you a favour, and you want to turn him in to the police?” the judge asked. 

“Yes,” Gebru said.

Crown attorneys Mike Himmelman and Minh Nguyen, along with defence lawyer Mike Cook, are expected to make their closing arguments Thursday in the judge-alone trial.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay