Kamloops lawyer charged in connection to death of TRU lecturer granted bail

A Kamloops lawyer charged in relation to the death of Thompson Rivers University teacher Mohd Abdullah has been granted bail.

Appearing by video from the Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre, Rogelio Butch Bagabuyo, 54, was granted bail by B.C. Provincial Court Judge Richard Hewson, and will be released today, March 25.

Bagabuyo was charged March 18 for interference with a dead body for allegedly storing Abdullah's body in a plastic bin.

All details from the bail hearing relating to the case are covered under a court-ordered publication ban.

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However, Kamloops RCMP previously said officers found a body in a vehicle in Monterey Place in the Dufferin neighbourhood of Kamloops March 17.

Days later Kamloops RCMP said the body was confirmed to have been Thompson Rivers University lecturer Mohd Abdullah.

Abdullah, 60, had been reported missing after he failed to show up for work March 14. He'd last been seen March 11.

Kamloops RCMP said Abdullah's death was being treated as a murder investigation, although Bagabuyo has not been charged with his murder.

According to his profile on the Kamloops Collaborative Family Law Association, Bagabuyo, who goes by the middle name "Butch," has been practicing family law for 18 years.

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On March 23, police were seen searching a house on Columbia Street where Bagabuyo is believed to have lived.

The 60-year-old university lecturer had worked at TRU for 20 years and taught at the faculty of science and open learning.

In a statement, the university said it is "deeply saddened" by his death.

Bagabuyo will be back in court in April as the case proceeds through the court system.

– Irrelevant information was removed from this story, March 26 at 9:28 a.m.

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