Photo: Castanet

Butch Bagabuyo leaves the Kamloops Law Courts on April 14, following Day 1 of his first-degree murder trial.

The high-profile trial of a Kamloops lawyer accused of murdering his client, a Thompson Rivers University professor, is on pause until Wednesday.

Butch Bagabuyo, 57, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his 60-year-old client Mohd Abdullah.

According to prosecutors, Bagabuyo and Abdullah conspired in 2016 to hide $774,000 from Abdullah’s ex-wife during their separation. Abdulllah was trying to collect that money in the months leading up to his death.

The Crown has alleged Bagabuyo killed Abdullah after burning through the cash, stabbing him to death inside his Victoria Street law office and then enlisting the help of an unknowing elderly friend to rent a cargo van and help dispose of the evidence.

Abdullah was reported missing on March 14, 2022, after failing to show up to work at TRU. His body was discovered three days later inside a large storage tote in the back of a cargo van parked outside the home of Bagabuyo’s friend.

Last week, prosecutors said they are on schedule for the nine-week trial, which began on April 14.

The trial has been adjourned for two days this week to allow lawyers to review new evidence. It is slated to resume on Wednesday at the Kamloops Law Courts.

The trial will shift to Vancouver starting next week.