HUNTER: Notorious names tied to Hamilton murder trial
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Salloum Jassem and Abdelaziz Ibrahim were the stars of a two-year bloodbath in Southern Ontario.
One was the drug boss, the other his prize hitter.
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Both are now dead.
But like the corpse whose nails continue to grow in the coffin, Jassem and Ibrahim are very much present in a Hamilton courtroom.
Alessandro Giammichele is on trial for first-degree murder in the Nov. 22, 2018, murder of his one-time friend Marko Bakir, 31. Cops say that it was Ibrahim who squeezed the trigger, hitting Bakir with five bullets in the driveway of his Hamilton home.
Jassem was the broker of death, the Crown has claimed.
Of course, given that they are very dead, neither will be offering their two cents. For his part, Giammichele has pleaded not guilty. The Crown and defence both agree that Ibrahim was the shooter.
The court heard that the beef between Giammichele and Bakir stemmed from a $362,000 settlement following a motorcycle accident. Bakir lent his friend $100,000 to invest. There was a contract and a repayment schedule, but Giammichele never coughed up.
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Hovering in the background of this drama were Jassem and Ibrahim, both of whom would be destined for the marquee.
And there was a broad canvas: Drugs, small town thuggery, GTA tow truck wars and hitters for hire.
The jury previously heard that Giammichele called both Jassem and Ibrahim on the day of the hit. Ironically, the accused was later shot in a Mississauga driveway on Sept. 17, 2019. Cops later found a tracker on the car he was driving. No one has been charged.
But the saga of Jassem and Ibrahim is about halfway through the final act, even though the two stars have exited the stage. No one has piped up to say how much the two criminals are missed.
As the walls closed in, Jassem and Ibrahim both died of drug overdoses in the jailhouse. It was on the eve of the Cody Carter murder trial for Jassem, and as for Ibrahim, he had recently been arrested for a third homicide.
The defence has highlighted and honed in on the pair for an alternative explanation for Bakir’s death.
And at the John Sopinka Courthouse in Hamilton, the nefarious duo are now taking their last bows in the sunlight.
After this, we will never hear their names again.
bhunter@postmedia.com
@HunterTOSun
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