SASKATOON – Afrah Ahmed Abdi, a United States legal permanent resident and Somalia national is on trial in Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench for the murder of Logan Nayneecassum. Abdi went by the name of Afrah Ali while in Canada.
Saskatoon police issued a Canada-wide warrant for Afrah Ali’’s arrest in August 2020. He was apprehended by U. S. authorities after crossing illegally into Montana from Canada Jan. 23, 2021, and taking law enforcement on a 76-mile (122 kilometre) car chase with speeds reaching up to 130 miles per hour (209 km/hr), according to U. S. court records.
Officers used spike belts to stop the car one mile north of Whitefish, Montana. The U. S. Department of Justice identified Abdi, of Virginia, as Afrah Ali through fingerprints.
Abdi was brought back to Saskatchewan from the U. S. in July 2021. He is charged with second-degree murder in 30-year-old Nayneecassum’s death in Saskatoon on Aug. 21, 2020.
Saskatoon police were called to Aria Food and Spirits located at 10 – 210 Slimmon Road just before 3 a.m., around closing time. When they arrived, they found Nayneecassum, an Indigenous man, suffering from a gunshot wound. Court heard that he was shot near the entrance following an argument, allegedly by Abdi.
Nayneecassum was taken to hospital where he was pronounced deceased.
Abdi’s jury trial started Dec. 4 and is expected to run 10 days.
On Friday, Saskatoon Police Service forensic identification officers Staff Sgt. Mikael Ziola and Sgt. Matthew Maloney testified.
Court heard that Nayneecassum was shot in the leg and it was a “through and through,” meaning it struck him in the back of the leg and came out the front.
Maloney said they found evidence that the .40 calibre bullet ricocheted after exiting Nayneecassum’s leg. It struck a table then went through a bench seat. The spent casing was eventually found inside a plant.
Police found two spent cartridge casings in the parking lot. One was a .40 calibre Smith & Wesson casing and the other was a .357 Winchester casing. The spent .40 calibre cartridge outside was the same brand as the spent .40 calibre inside and likely fired from the same handgun but it isn't certain, court heard.
An intact bullet was found inside the bar near an ATM machine, which was near the bathrooms.
Officers weren’t able to collect DNA evidence from Nayneecassum’s clothing because they were “saturated in blood,” court heard. Photos of Nayneeecasum’s bloody clothing were shown to the jury.
Abdi, who has remained in custody, entered the courtroom in wrist and ankle shackles before sitting in the prisoner’s box. Several times he would turn around and laugh, smile, and nod at a man and two women sitting directly behind him.
No one was in the courtroom for Nayneecassum.
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