Ottawa cocaine dealer Hussein El-Hajj Hassan made powerful enemies in the narcotics trade when he bypassed his main supplier

Ottawa cocaine dealer Hussein El-Hajj Hassan made powerful enemies in the narcotics trade when he bypassed his main supplier, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday, and that's how he ended up bludgeoned, shot to death and mutilated on Aug. 24, 2004. In her opening statement in the murder trial of one of his alleged killers, assistant Crown attorney Andrea Blakeley said Mark Yegin, a bodyguard to that supplier, drove Mr. Hassan to an isolated forest clearing in the west end where the pair met two other men: Mr. Yegin's boss, Fadi Saleh, and Montreal cocaine dealer Shant Esrabian.Moments later, Mr. Hassan was shot and killed, Ms. Blakeley said. His body was found on June 28, 2005 when Mr. Yegin led police to a grave in a wooded area off Panmure Road. Ms. Blakeley said the Crown expects to present evidence that after the killing, Mr. Hassan's body was dragged into the woods, stripped down to underwear and socks, and buried."You will hear evidence from a forensic anthropologist that prior to being buried - either before or immediately after his murder - his hand was severed from his arm," Ms. Blakeley said. "You will hear from a forensic pathologist that his skull was fractured and that he was shot at least two times."Mr. Yegin had known Mr. Hassan for about four months and worked as "the muscle" for him and his supplier, Fadi Saleh. Ms. Blakeley said Mr. Hassan had become unhappy with the way Mr. Saleh did business and decided to deal directly with Toronto cocaine supplier Rafei Ebrekdjian.In June or July of 2004, Mr. Hassan delivered $200,000 to Mr. Ebrekdjian, intending to buy cocaine directly from him instead of Mr. Saleh, Ms. Blakely said. He then went to Lebanon, staying there for about a month.By August, Mr. Ebrekdjian had received more than $400,000 from Mr. Hassan, who told associates he was expecting a large cocaine delivery on Aug. 21.Ms. Blakeley said Mr. Hassan was planning to meet Mr. Yegin on Aug. 20 and the two men were to meet Paul "Sasquatch" Porter - a top Hells Angels member who was expected to help Mr. Hassan settle a cocaine trafficking problem in Cornwall.There never was a meeting that night with Mr. Porter and Mr. Hassan never reached Cornwall, Ms. Blakeley said. Instead, Mr. Yegin drove Mr. Hassan to the wooded area off Panmure Road, where he was shot.After the Crown's opening, Ottawa police Sgt. Angela McDade testified that shortly after his arrest on June 27, 2005, Mr. Yegin showed police where Mr. Hassan's body was buried.Sgt. McDade said a convoy of three police cruisers reached the wooded area where the body was buried just after 2 a.m.
"As we got closer, (Mr. Yegin) pointed directly to a small mound of leaves," Sgt. McDade said. "It was very obvious he had been there before because he was able to tell us where we were going before we saw any stop signs or street signs."There was a bit of skin exposed. We definitely could smell the body." Soumia El-Hajj Hassan, Mr. Hassan's widow, said she knew that her husband became a cocaine dealer after he served a prison sentence for fraud. Mrs. Hassan said she became concerned when he did not return home on the night of his death and was told by Mr. Hassan's cousins that he had probably been killed. She said she was unable to discover what happened to her husband after questioning his associates, including Mr. Yegin.Tuesday, security at the trial was tight. There were metal detectors at the courtroom entrance and armed police officers inside and outside the court.