Hassan Mohamoud Yusuf
April 2005
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

See also Hassan Mohamoud Yusuf in the Canadian Homicides section.

Edmonton Journal
(Edmonton, Alberta)
March 29, 2007

Daughter of murdered man misses dad (1:50 p.m.)

'A little girl needs a daddy for many things'
 
Karen Kleiss
edmontonjournal.com
Thursday, March 29, 2007

Seven-year-old Iman Yussuf stepped to the front of a courtroom 
today and told the judge how the murder of her father, cab driver 
Hassan Yussuf, has changed her life.

"A little girl needs a daddy for many things," she said 
breathlessly, her curly pony tail bobbing as she spoke.

"I miss his hugs and kisses. I miss when he tucked me in bed 
and he read me a story," she said.

"I don't think my mom liked how he got murdered."

The little girl, her mother and two siblings read their victim 
impact statements today at the sentencing hearing for Deirdre 
Baptiste and her brother Ronald Crane, both convicted of second 
degree murder in the stabbing death of 41-year-old cab driver 
Hassan Yussuf two years ago.

Karl Strongman, who was convicted of manslaughter for his role 
in the killing, will also be sentenced.

All three were also convicted of robbery and forcible 
confinement.

As the little girl and other members of her family spoke, Baptiste 
placed her elbows on her knees, hung her head and cried. Crane 
shuffled in his seat, while Strongman sat bolt upright in the 
wooden prisoner's box, looking straight ahead.

During the trial, the court heard that Yussuf picked up the three 
killers and a friend, Cathy Fiddler, in the early morning hours of 
April 8, 2005.

They asked him to drive them to the outskirts of the city, and 
then told him to stop. Baptiste and Crane then stabbed him, 
robbed him and stuffed him into the trunk of the cab.

When Yussuf kept screaming and banging in a desperate 
attempt to escape from the trunk, Crane told Fiddler to stop the 
car and open the trunk. He and Strongman got out and went 
back to the open trunk. When they got back into the car the trunk 
was closed and Yussuf was quiet.

A coroner counted seven stab wounds on the victim's body. He 
said only one of those wounds, a knife wound from his back into 
his left lung, was potentially fatal.

"Hassan Yussuf was reduced to begging for his life ... but he was 
shown no mercy," Crown prosecutor Mark Huyser-Wierenga told 
the court in his sentencing submissions.

Second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in 
prison with a minimum of 10 years without parole. The crown is 
asking the judge to sentence both Crane and Baptiste to life 
without the possibility of parole for 20 to 25 years.

Both killers have long criminal records, Huyser-Wierenga said. 
Baptiste, 25, has 26 convictions, primarily for property and 
driving crimes.

Crane, 30, has 50 convictions, many of which were for assault 
and other violent offences.

While Crane was being held in the remand centre on charges of 
murder in Yussuf's death, he participated in the beating of 
another inmate who was left in a vegetative state, Huyser-
Wirenga told the court. Crane pleaded guilty and was sentenced 
to four years in prison for that offence.

The Crown is asking the court to sentence Strongman to 
between 15 and 18 years in prison for his role.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Chronicle-Herald
(Halifax, Nova Scotia)
April 1, 2007

Cabbie-killers get life in prison

EDMONTON - A judge called statements about the suffering of 
two siblings convicted of killing an Edmonton cab driver 
"tragically ironic" Friday in handing down lengthy jail terms.

Deidre Baptist, 25, and Ronald Crane, 29, were each convicted 
of second-degree murder, unlawful confinement and robbery in 
the April 8, 2005, slaying of Hassan Yussuf after he picked them 
up in his cab near a city convenience store.

"Both Ms. Baptist and Mr. Crane have referred to their difficult 
past and, particularly, the profound impact on them caused by 
the death of their father in 1995," said Court of Queen's Bench 
Justice Eric Macklin.

"How tragically ironic that they seemingly did not bear this fact in 
mind while mercilessly killing Mr. Yussuf and leaving his seven 
children with the very same loss they say had a devastating 
effect on them."

Macklin sentenced both to life in prison, and set parole eligibility 
for Baptist at 18 years, and for Crane at 22 years.

The minimum time someone convicted of second-degree murder 
must spend behind bars is 10 years.

Jurors at the murder trial heard how Yussuf begged his killers to 
spare his life for the sake of his wife and seven children as they 
dragged him from his cab, stabbed him to death and left him to 
die in the trunk of the cab. His body was found four days later.

Macklin noted the motive for robbing and killing Yussuf was to 
get money to satisfy the murderers' own "selfish needs" for more 
drugs and alcohol so they could keep partying.

Yussuf, who had a university education, fled war-torn Somalia as 
a refugee. He came to Canada and eventually sponsored his 
wife and children, who had been living in a refugee camp in 
Kenya.

The family originally settled in Ottawa. A few years later, Yussuf 
moved west and started driving a taxi in Calgary and then in 
Edmonton, working long hours to support his wife and children.

Macklin also said the "irony" of the hard-working, law-abiding 
man's death should not be lost on anyone.

"His life revolved around supporting his family and providing 
them with opportunities that he did not believe would have 
existed in his native country. He was a law abiding citizen of 
Canada," said Macklin.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Edmonton Journal
(Edmonton, Alberta)
April 13, 2005

Body found in trunk of cab

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Edmonton police discovered the body of a man believed to be in
his early forties inside the trunk of a cab in the city's north end
late Tuesday night.

Police detectives were following-up on a tip they received earlier
in the evening that a Yellow Cab and driver were missing.

Police searched through the north end of the city and located the
missing cab and found the body in the trunk.

An autopsy on the body found inside the trunk is scheduled for
tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.. Police say this is the eighth murder of the
year.

Police have no suspects at this time and the Investigation is
continuing.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Man found murdered in cab trunk
Apr 14 2005
CBC News

EDMONTON - Edmonton police have charged a man in connection with  the
murder of a cab driver who apparently had moved to Edmonton from  Ottawa
to seek a better life for his family.

Police found the body in the trunk of an abandoned Yellow Cab taxi on at
11 p.m. Tuesday after receiving a tip earlier in the evening. The cab
was  last in service on Friday, five days earlier.

Although there has not been an official identification by family, police
believe the body is that of Hassan Mohamoud Yusuf, 41, a Somali-born
man who came to Ottawa in 1992.

Yusuf apparently worked as a cab driver in Ottawa, but was not getting
enough work, so he moved to Edmonton to drive a taxi there.

He leaves his wife, Farha, and seven children, who were planning on
joining him in Edmonton later this spring. Farha and four of the
children  flew to Edmonton Wednesday to identify the body.

Karl Strongman, 25, of Ponoka, Alta., has been charged with first-degree
murder, unlawful confinement, and robbery. Police have also issued
warrants on the same charges for two other people, Ronald Crane, 27,
and Deidre Baptiste, 23, both of Hobbema, Alta.

Edmonton police spokesperson Chris McLeod said all three are "certainly
well-known to police." One report said they are suspected of having ties
to local gangs.

Hakim Mohamed, a friend and fellow taxi driver, is upset with the taxi
company. He said Yellow Cab did not try to find the man after he was
reported missing.

"I really feel angry to Yellow [Cab]. ... His roommate called Yellow
[Cab]  Friday and Saturday and they didn't do anything about it. The
least they  could have done was tell other drivers to look out for car
339.

"They just ignored what his roommate was wondering.

"I think if Yellow [Cab] would have called other drivers or called the
police  the car would have been found earlier, or he would be safe."

Officials with Yellow Cab declined to be interviewed, but said they are
co-operating with police.

Hassan Yusuf was supposed to return to Ottawa this week. Instead, he
will be buried Friday in Edmonton, according to Muslim custom.

An autopsy was scheduled for Thursday.

+++++++++++++++++++++

[somewhat different from above]

Charges laid in murder of cab driver found in trunk
Apr 14 2005
CBC News

EDMONTON - Police have arrested one man and are looking for two  others
after the body of a 41-year-old cab driver - missing for five days -
was found in the trunk of his car.

Police found the man, believed to be Hassan Mohammed Yusuf, in an
abandoned Yellow Cab about 11 p.m. Tuesday, after receiving a tip
earlier  in the evening.

Yusuf had worked as a taxi driver in Ottawa, but wasn't getting enough
hours, so the father of seven had recently moved to Edmonton.

His family was planning on joining him later this spring. His wife and
some of his children arrived in Edmonton Wednesday to identify the
body.

Hakim Mohamed, a friend and fellow driver, is upset that Yellow Cab
never tried to find Yusuf after he was reported missing.

"I really feel angry to Yellow [Cab]. His roommate called Yellow Friday
and Saturday and they didn't do anything about it," Mohamed said. "The
least they could have done was tell other drivers to look out for car
339.

"They just ignored what his roommate was wondering. I think if Yellow
would have called other drivers, or called the police, the car would
have  been found earlier, or he would be safe."

Representatives with Yellow Cab declined to be interviewed, but said
they  are co-operating with police.

A 25-year-old Ponoka man has been charged with first-degree murder,
unlawful confinement and robbery in connection with Yusuf's death.

Warrants have also been issued for a 27-year-old man and a 23-year-old
man, both of Hobbema, on charges of first-degree murder, unlawful
confinement and robbery.

An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

CBC Radio/TV
(Edmonton, AB, Canada)
14 April 2005

CHARGES LAID IN MURDER OF CAB DRIVER FOUND IN TRUNK

EDMONTON - Police have arrested one man and are looking for two
others after the body of a 41-year-old cab driver - missing for
five days - was found in the trunk of his car.

Police found the man, believed to be Hassan Mohammed Yussuf, in
an abandoned Yellow Cab about 11 p.m. Tuesday, after receiving a
tip earlier in the evening.

Yussuf had worked as a taxi driver in Ottawa, but wasn't getting
enough hours, so the father of seven had recently moved to
Edmonton.

His family was planning on joining him later this spring. His
wife and some of his children arrived in Edmonton Wednesday to
identify the body.

Hakim Mohamed, a friend and fellow driver, is upset that Yellow
Cab never tried to find Yussuf after he was reported missing.

"I really feel angry to Yellow [Cab]. His roommate called Yellow
Friday and Saturday and they didn't do anything about it,"
Mohamed said. "The least they could have done was tell other
drivers to look out for car 339.

"They just ignored what his roommate was wondering. I think if
Yellow would have called other drivers, or called the police,
the car would have been found earlier, or he would be safe."

Representatives with Yellow Cab declined to be interviewed, but
said they are co-operating with police.

A 25-year-old Ponoka man has been charged with first-degree
murder, unlawful confinement and robbery in connection with
Yussuf's death.

Warrants have also been issued for a 27-year-old man and a 23-
year-old man, both of Hobbema, on charges of first-degree
murder, unlawful confirment and robbery.

An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Title: Edmonton police find missing cab driver dead in trunk of taxi
after tip
Source: Canadian Press, The; 14/04/2005
Database:  Canadian Reference Centre
Notes: Interlibrary Loan Request

Edmonton police find missing cab driver dead in trunk of taxi after tip

EDMONTON (CP) _ One man was arrested and warrants were issued for two
other people Wednesday after Edmonton police found the body of a cab
driver in the trunk of a taxi that was last in service on Friday.

Police got several tips that lead to them to a Yellow Cab in a parking
lot in northeast Edmonton, where they found the dead man late Tuesday
night.

"It was basically a tip that there was a cab with a body in the trunk,"
said police spokesman Chris McLeod said Wednesday.

McLeod said it appears the body of Hassan (Yusuf) Mahamood was in the
trunk for more than a day.

Mahamood, 41, had planned to move his wife and seven children to
Edmonton from Ottawa, said his daughter Ifrah.

"Devastated is not the word," she said, struggling to hold back tears.
"He was a loving man ... He was a very kind man, everyone loved him.
Everyone in Ottawa, everyone here. He was a very honest man."

Late Wednesday, police announced they had arrested Karl Strongman, 25,
of Ponoka, Alta., and charged him with first-degree murder, forcible
confinement and robbery. Warrants on the same charges were issued for
Ronald Crane, 27, and Deidre Baptiste, 23, both of Hobbema, Alta.

Mahamood's nephew Mohamed Hersi said he last saw his uncle alive last
week, but he wasn't driving his regular cab at the time because it was
getting repaired.

McLeod said Yellow Cab contacted police Tuesday about Mahamood's
disappearance.

Sid Slatch, Yellow Cab's director of operations, wouldn't comment.

Some city cab drivers wonder why it took so long for Mahamood to be
found and called for safety measures to be implemented.

Mahad Ali said it's time officials put a protective divider in cabs
between the driver and the passengers.

"It's very sad. We are not safe anywhere," said Ali.

(c) 2005, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Alberta news roundup: April 14
Vancouver Sun
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

... A 25-year-old man from Ponoka has been charged after the body
of an Edmonton cab driver was found in the trunk of a taxi. Police ...

+++++++++++++++++++++++

CBC Radio/TV
Edmonton, AB, Canada
15 Apr 2005

Cab driver stabbed to death

EDMONTON - A cab driver whose body was found in the trunk of his
car was stabbed to death, police said Thursday.

 Police spokesman Chris McLeod said Hassan Yusuf might have
survived his injuries - including a fatal wound to his upper
body - had he received immediate attention.

Yusuf's body was found five days after he went missing.

"One fatal stab wound was the cause of death, and also he
suffered multiple non-fatal stab wounds to his upper body,"
McLeod said. "There is a chance, had there been immediate
medical attention given, that he could have survived."

McLeod said the medical examiner couldn't determine whether
Yusuf, the father of seven, had still been alive when he was put
in the Yellow Cab's trunk.

According to friends and his family, Yusuf's roommate called
Yellow Cab Friday and Saturday to report that he hadn't come
home. Police found his body Tuesday night.

McLeod says they are investigating the response from the
company. Earlier Thursday, Yellow Cab representatives didn't
want to comment.

Three people have been charged with first-degree murder,
unlawful confinement and robbery in connection with Yusuf's
death. One man was arrested Wednesday, and a man and a woman
turned themselves into police Thursday.

Yusuf had been driving a cab in Edmonton for less than a year,
and his family was planning to join him from Ottawa later this
spring. Instead, they arrived Wednesday to identify his body.

His 20-year-old daughter Ifrah Mahmood said they have concerns
about how Yellow Cab responded to her father's disappearance.

"I don't know what kind of company my dad worked for, how would
they not know someone who was missing three days and he works
for them, drives their cab," Mahmood said.

She said Yusuf, who brought his family to Canada from Somalia,
had two degrees and spoke five languages, and had hoped to
eventually find work as an electrician.

Thursday, about 150 Edmonton taxi drivers slowly circled City
Hall, to draw attention to how dangerous their job is.

"How many drivers do we have to lose?" Soner Yasa, who drives
for Prestige, said.

The drivers want the taxi commission to look at making bullet-
resistant shields between the front and back seats mandatory,
and want security cameras installed.

Yasa paid $1,500 to have a camera put in his cab after he was
almost choked to death during a robbery four years ago.

"It's dangerous all the time," Yasa said. "You never know who
you're picking up, they could kill you for 10 bucks."

The taxi commission is looking at recommending that all cabs
install cameras, but president Rudy Berghuys says they've tried
the shields and passengers and drivers didn't like them.

Terry Smythe, who was head of the Manitoba Taxi Cab Board and
now runs a website on driver safety, says no cab drivers have
been murdered in Winnipeg since they mandated safety shields,
cameras and global positioning systems.

He says while there have been robberies with the safety
equipment, the rate of conviction has been good because of the
cameras.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Edmonton Journal
Edmonton, AB, Canada
15 Apr 2005

Driver fought back while being stabbed

Ryan Cormier and Renata D'Aliesio
The Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - Two suspects in the killing of city cab driver Hassan
Mohamud Yussuf turned themselves in to police just before 11
p.m. Thursday.

Ronald Adrian Crane, 27, and Deidre Renee Baptiste, 23, both of
Hobbema, walked into Edmonton police headquarters with family
members.

They had been wanted for first-degree murder, unlawful
confinement and robbery.

Police spokesman Chris McLeod said family members had encouraged
the pair to give themselves up to police. Both had been in
Edmonton since warrants were issued for them Wednesday night.

McLeod said RCMP officers were instrumental in negotiating the
surrender of the two suspects.

The third suspect, Karl Blair Strongman, 25, of Ponoka, was
arrested on Wednesday. He faces the same charges.

Earlier Thursday, an autopsy showed Yussuf, a father of seven,
was stabbed fatally in the upper body and suffered several non-
fatal stab wounds to the same area.

The 41-year-old's body was found in the trunk of Yellow Cab No.
339 in north Edmonton, where it had been parked for five days
after he was attacked early Friday morning.

"Had he been given immediate medical attention, he may have
survived," said McLeod.

The autopsy on Yussuf's body failed to determine whether he was
dead or alive when he was put in the trunk of his cab.

Yussuf had been in Edmonton for less than a year. Although he
had two university degrees and aspirations to become an
electrician, the Somali immigrant drove a taxi to support his
family in Ottawa.

Sources say Yussuf picked up two men and two women early on
April 8, near a Mac's convenience store on 107th Avenue at 104th
Street. They asked him to head to an area near Alberta Hospital,
which is close to the city's northeastern limits.

When the taxi stopped, one of the group got of the cab and moved
towards Yussuf. A police source said Thursday that Yussuf was
then pulled out of the taxi and stabbed several times on the
road. Yussuf did attempt to fight back against the attack, the
source said.

One of the stabbings pierced his lung.

Forensic police investigators have combed the road and ditches
for clues.

Several hundred dollars were stolen from Yussuf.

The source said Yussuf's attackers disabled the taxi's global
positioning system, which uses satellites to track location.
With Yussuf in the trunk, his attackers drove his Yellow Cab to
153rd Avenue and Castle Downs Road. They abandoned his taxi in a
parking lot between a liquor store and a Baptist church. A
Sobeys grocery store and a lowrise condominium are nearby.

The taxi sat parked at an angle until police detectives, acting
on a tip, opened the trunk and found Yussuf's body around 11
p.m. Tuesday.

A fellow cab driver said Yussuf's roommate had called Yellow Cab
for two days to tell them he had not come home.

On Thursday, Yellow Cab's district director of operations said
managers didn't know anything about Yussuf being reported
missing. Sid Slach said the company is combing through telephone
calls that came in to their offices.

Baptiste was wanted on an outstanding warrant issued Oct. 7,
2004, for failing to appear in court on a charge of aggravated
assault. Crane was scheduled to appear in Edmonton court April
21 on a charge of carrying a concealed weapon.

rcormier@thejournal.canwest.com
rd'aliesio@thejournal.canwest.com

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Edmonton Journal
EDmonton, AB, Canada
15 April 2005

Cabbies rally at City Hall to decry lack of safety measures

by Bill Mah, with files from Ryan Cormier

EDMONTON - One black ribbon wasn't enough to convey the grief
Mohamed Chebli feels for slain cabbie Hassan Yussuf.

The Co-op taxi driver knotted together ribbons Thursday until a
dark streamer two metres long fluttered from his white cab's
rooftop aerial in the cold rain and wind.

"We prayed together at the mosque," Chebli said. "He was a very,
very good man. Honest to God, if I could breathe life back into
him, I would do it."

Chebli and an estimated 100 taxi drivers from several companies
drove their orange, white, yellow and green cabs in a sombre
parade around City Hall to show respect for a fallen cabbie.

Yussuf's body was found by police detectives Tuesday night in
the trunk of his Yellow Cab No. 339 in Castle Downs, where it
had been abandoned after a fare early Friday morning.

An autopsy showed he was stabbed fatally in the upper body and
suffered several other non-fatal stab wounds to his upper body.

Karl Blair Strongman, 25, of Ponoka, has been charged with first-
degree murder, unlawful confinement, and robbery. Warrants were
issued for Ronald Adrian Crane, 27, and Deidre Renee Baptiste,
23, both of Hobbema.

Many drivers at the rally lashed out against a lack of
protection from unruly passengers who physically abuse them.

"I'm here to honour (Yussuf), to stand behind him because all of
us have had enough of this ..." Chebli said.

"If the city would do something to protect the cab drivers,
maybe put up shields, none of this would happen to us."

Some cabbies demanded to know why Yellow Cab did not report
Yussuf missing to police until Tuesday evening, five days after
he was last heard from.

"It is surprising the body was there for four or five days,"
said G.S. Klair, a driver with Capital Taxi, a company formed by
disgruntled Yellow Cab drivers.

"The company did not bother to keep track of him."

Yussuf's roommate called Yellow Cab on Friday and Saturday to
tell them he had not come home, said Yussuf's cousin.

Sid Slach, Yellow Cab's district director of operations, denied
Thursday that managers or supervisors at the company knew
anything was amiss.

"We have no knowledge of anybody phoning at this time and
reporting a missing driver," Slach said.

"We are currently going through all of our telephone calls and
investigating into great detail all the calls that came into our
offices."

Taxi drivers work as subcontractors who do not work set hours,
he added. Drivers sign in and off on computerized dispatch
systems, which automatically shut off if untouched after four
hours.

At Thursday's rally, drivers taped signs in their windows: "148
plus 1. Another day of mourning."

The number represents the number of cabbies killed on the job in
Canada since 1912, said Bill Handous, a marketing director at
Capital Taxi.

Handous said it's not enough for drivers to demand more
protection, such as protective shields -- an idea considered in
the 1980s, but never adopted. He said passengers have to let the
taxi industry know what protective devices they would accept in
a cab, such as cameras or microphones.

Mayor Stephen Mandel, who emerged from his office to meet with
some of the drivers, said he wants to set up a meeting next week
between city managers and members of the Edmonton Taxi Cab
Commission.

"I don't want to rush out all of a sudden, and rip all the cabs
apart and install security systems. Let's take a look at what
needs to happen."

Handous said two funds have been set up at TD Bank; one for
Yussuf's family and one for the families of all cabbies killed
on the job.

bmah@thejournal.canwest.com

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Edmonton Journal
Edmonton, AB, Canada
15 April 2005

Safety devices in taxis voluntary

Killing brings issue to forefront -- again

by Duncan Thorne
The Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - Edmonton cabbies have called for bulletproof
partitions and other safety features repeatedly through the
years.

Regulators looked at the issue at least twice in the 1980s,
after drivers were killed. But so far, such devices are
voluntary and stop short of partitions.

Yellow Cab, for instance, equips its taxis with global-
positioning systems, or GPS, and "silent alarm" panic buttons
that connect with the dispatch office.

One concern about bulletproof partitions is the cost. San
Francisco driver Charles Rathbone, who insists on a partition in
his cab, said Thursday they go for less than $500 US, which is
about $625 Cdn.

"The price is almost trivial," Rathbone said from his home.
"What does a set of tires cost?"

The driver has testified as an expert and posts research on the
web at taxi-l.org, indicating partitions reduce violence
significantly.

Rathbone's brother-in-law, a New York City driver, was slain
before the U.S. city made cab owners install either partitions
or cameras. Rathbone has had a knife at his throat and a gun
pointed at him.

"It's not Disneyland out there," he said. "Driving a cab without
a partition is like driving a cab without brakes."

San Francisco requires security cameras, but not partitions.

Taxi-l.org lists more than 1,000 North American homicides of
taxi drivers, including 10 in Edmonton -- not including
Tuesday's slaying of Hassan Yussuf.

The Manitoba Taxicab Board, which regulates Winnipeg cabs, has
settled for a compromise partition design that makes attacks
difficult, although it is not bulletproof and does not
completely separate the driver from passengers. The board also
requires in-cab security cameras, which cost about $1,000, as
well as GPS.

Terry Smythe, former general manager of the Manitoba board, has
studied cab safety across North America and founded taxi-l.org.
Smythe predicted the Yussuf case will prompt regulators to
consider safety partitions and other equipment -- and then drop
the idea.

That's the normal pattern, Smythe said, partly because the cab
industry doesn't want to spend extra cash and there are always
immigrants available to replace injured or dead drivers.

"The inexhaustible supply of people from many lands is no
different than World War One cannon fodder. Cab drivers are
being murdered all over the world relentlessly and nobody takes
notice."

The death of two Toronto cabbies over one Christmas season
prompted that city in 2001 to require cabs to have cameras or an
alarm and GPS, and emergency flashing red lights. Toronto police
found armed robberies of cabs dropped by two-thirds after the
system started.

dthorne@thejournal.canwest.com

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Global TV NewsWire
Edmonton, AB, Canada
14 April 2005

Murdered cab driver

Police are releasing more details into the murder of 42 year old
Hassan Yussuf. Investigators say 1:00am Friday morning, Yussuf's
taxi was flagged down outside a convenience store on 107th
avenue at 104th street.

He drove the patrons to a remote area in the far outskirts of
northeast Edmonton near Horse Hill School. Police believe that's
likely where he was attacked and locked in the trunk of his car.
The vehicle was then driven to a parking lot in Castle Downs
near 153rd avenue and 113-A street.

Hassan Yussuf's wife flew to Edmonton within hours of receiving
the bad news. She brought along four of their seven children and
as can be imagined, they're all in shock.

"I'm going to miss him so much. I'm going to miss all of him."
says nine year old Sahid Yussuf

One day after finding out their father was murdered, Hassan
Yussuf's children struggle to express their grief.

"It's so weird because you don't expect your dad to die just
like that." says Ebyan Yussuf, 10 years old

Their father Hassan was beaten to death and stuffed in the trunk
of his yellow cab. Police found him five days later.

"I really want to see the people that did it because if they
didn't know the person then why would they kill them" says Ebyan

It's a crime that has robbed these children of a father they
idolized.

"I remember he said he was going to come on the 20th of April
but now he's dead so he can't. come to Ottawa? ya." says Sahid

Hassan worked for Yellow Cab to support his family. But he was
hoping to move his wife and seven children to Edmonton so they
could be together.

"He was a lovely guy, very happy, very respectable. "Treated you
well?" Treated me well ya." says Farha Ali, Hassan's widow

Farha Ali was married to Hassan for 20 years. She's sad and
angry.

"The hardest thing in this he has been missing for five days and
he was in the trunk that's what I can't take right now, you
know?" says Farha Ali

She has a lot of questions, but for now, she's just trying to
deal with her loss.

"I'm going to miss him, his laugh you know.. cries.. I don't
know.. I don't know." says Farha Ali

"He didn't deserve to die like this." says Mohamed Hersi,
Hassan's nephew

Mohamed Hersi was Hassan's nephew. He describes his uncle as an
intelligent man who had two degrees and spoke five languages. A
man who fled war-torn Somalia in 1991 so his family could have a
better life and not live in fear.

"...that's what is on my mind now, seven children now.. it's
tough.. really tough... (shakes his head) very tough." says
Hersi

Hassan's children may be young, but they realize the sacrifice
their father made.

"Like he loved us so then, he would want us to go to university,
to have a good life...so then I want to achieve that dream and
that's what we're mostly going for." says Ebyan

Hassan Yussuf's relatives have set up two trust funds. One is
accepting donations for the Yussuf family. A second is called
the Taxi Family Protection Fund. It is for future use in case
something happens to a driver. Donations for either fund are
being accepted starting tomorrow at TD bank.

Police have arrested a Ponoka man in connection with Hassan's
murder. 25-year old Karl Blair Strongman faces charges of first
degree murder, forced confinement and robbery.

Investigators believe two other people from Hobbema were
involved in the murder. Police are now looking for 27-year old
Ronald Adrian Crane. He's native, 180 centimetres tall, weighs
118 kilograms, has brown eyes and black hair. The other murder
suspect is 23-year old Deidre Renee Baptiste. She's native, 170
centimetres tall, 95 kilograms with brown eyes and black hair.
If you know where either of these people are, call
Crimestoppers.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Edmonton Sun
Edmonton, AB, Canada
16 April 2005

Cabbie laid to rest

by PAUL COWAN
EDMONTON SUN

Cabs of many colours joined the funeral procession yesterday for
slain taxi driver Hassan Mohamud Yussuf. Yellow cabs, orange
cabs from Capital, the white of Co-op, and green and white of
Barrel joined the procession from the Al-Rashid Mosque to the
Muslim Cemetery at 34 Street and 251 Avenue.

"My reaction to what has happened is horror, fear," said one of
the few woman taxi drivers in the city, Azeb Zemarian.

"All the taxi drivers today looked and said 'that could be my
children, my family, me?

"His life was gone in a snap; in one trip, and everyone is
thinking that could be me."

Yussuf was found stuffed in the trunk of his own taxi late
Tuesday night, four days after picking up his last fare. He had
multiple stab wounds and police say it is possible he might have
lived if he had been given immediate medical attention.

Around 3,000 people packed the gym at the mosque at 13070 113
St. in honour of the 41-year-old father of seven.

Among those in attendance was Sikh former taxi commissioner
Amarjit Grewal.

"Every three or four years we lose a driver," he said. "The
city, the taxi commission, the drivers, they should all be doing
more.

"We need shields between the passengers and the drivers."

Female family members wept over Yussuf's casket, draped with a
stunning gold and crimson rug from his native Somalia, in the
gym as the regular Friday prayer session was held in another
part of the mosque.

Imam Tamir Ali said Yussuf died a martyr in the eyes of Islam
because he was fighting to protect himself and his property.

He blamed the killing on a lack of religious belief in modern
society.

"This type of horrendous crime reflects the deteriorating status
of moral values," he told the worshippers.

"People need religious guidance and the scholars of the various
faiths need to co-operate to rectify the reduced status of
religion."

Yussuf's nephew Mohamed Hersi said the attendance at the funeral
brought comfort to the dead man's family. "We have lost one of
the best guys and a good friend," he said.

Hersi said his uncle had planned to bring his family from Ottawa
to Edmonton this month to join him.

Yussuf spoke five languages and had two science degrees. He'd
been working as a cabbie in Edmonton for about nine months.

Three people have been arrested and charged in connection with
Yussuf's death.

On Wednesday, police announced 25-year-old Karl Blair Strongman,
known as Scooter, had been charged with first-degree murder,
unlawful confinement and robbery.

Warrants on the same charges were issued for Ronald Adrian
Crane, 27, and Deidre Renee Baptiste, 23. They turned themselves
in Thursday night.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Edmonton Journal
Edmonton, AB, Canada
16 April 2005

Taxi driver died as a martyr for family, mourners told

Hundreds of cabbies spill onto sidewalk outside mosque to pay
respects

by Vernon Clement Jones
The Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - Black, brown and white shoes sat in every corner of
the Al-Rashid Mosque Friday -- removed by those inside.

The colours were also those of the mourners for Hassan Yussuf, a
taxi driver killed while working to feed the wife and children
he leaves behind.

Yussuf died a martyr to that cause, the leader of the mosque
told the hundreds of mourners.

"We believe that he was killed in a state of grace," Imam Tamer
Ali said, first in Arabic and then in English. "When a brother
has died as a martyr for his family, we have to be proud of
him."

Inside Edmonton's largest mosque, Yussuf's seven children sat
close to the green casket in which their father lay.

In 1992, the 41-year-old man left Somalia with two science
degrees, but would work as a cabbie in Canada to support his
family.

While hundreds filled the mosque, hundreds more stood outside,
unable to get in. Collective chants of "Amen" hummed in the air
as Yussuf's four daughters sat with their mother, Farha. She
wept quietly.

His three boys sat across the aisle with the men of the mosque --
 the separation dictated by Islam custom.

As the ceremony of equal parts anger and sorrow took place, the
first of three people accused of killing Yussuf-- Karl Blair
Strongman, 25, of Ponoka -- made his first appearance in an
Edmonton court Friday.

Strongman, along with Ronald Adrian Crane, 27, and Deidre Renee
Baptiste, 23, both of Ponoka, are accused of stabbing the 41-
year-old cab driver repeatedly before stuffing him into the
trunk of his cab.

All three have been charged with first-degree murder, unlawful
confinement and robbery.

The car sat in a parking lot at the rear of a north-end liquor
store for five days before police found Yussuf's body in the
trunk on Tuesday night.

Ali led the crowd in asking God to show Yussuf the mercy his
killers withheld.

"May Allah bless his soul and accept him and give patience to
his family," he said, before the start of the brief ceremony at
2:30 p.m.

By 2:40 p.m., pallbearers had carried the casket down the steps
of the mosque and into a waiting hearse.

A cortege of cabs followed the black car on its slow drive to
the cemetery.

"I came to show my respect to the family and to him -- nothing
more and nothing less," said Sukhi Tahli, one of the drivers
lining the steps who had failed to win a spot inside for the
funeral of a man he'd never met.

Yussuf came to Edmonton nine months ago, leaving his family in
Ottawa. He'd hoped to make enough money to relocate his wife and
children in June.

"What can you say?" said Marek Masaryk, another taxi driver.
"The guy went through the worst nightmare you can imagine and
then they killed him. Personally, I think there should be more
punishment for a crime."

Edmonton cabbies will take that message to City Hall on Sunday
for a protest rally .

But the company Yussuf acted as a subcontractor for -- Yellow
Cab -- must also answer questions, said Abdi Mohamad, another
taxi driver. He cited reports that company officials waited five
days before notifying police about Yussuf's disappearance.

On Thursday, a city police spokesman said the cabbie might have
survived the attack had he received immediate medical attention.

Two representatives of the taxi firm sat with mourners Friday.

The funeral, in some small way, has comforted the grieving
family, said Yussuf's nephew.

"It really is great -- it gives me a good motivation inside,"
Mohamed Hersi said.

vjones@thejournal.canwest.com

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Grisly find in trunk
Driver had been missing for 5 days
Widow seeks 'justice'
Cab driver stabbed to death
'Hollering for his life'
Cabbie lived 'national embarrassment' of many immigrants
Cabbies rally at City Hall to decry lack of safety measures
Suspects surrender in cab driver's murder
Driver fought back while being stabbed

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Edmonton Sun
(Edmonton, Alberta)
April 14, 2005

Grisly find in trunk

SHANE HOLLADAY AND DAN PALMER, EDMONTON SUN

Cops last night arrested one man and were looking for two other
people in connection with the slaying of city cabbie Hassan
(Yusuf) Mahamood. Police pulled the body of the 41-year-old
father of seven - described by his grieving family as "honest and
loving" - from the trunk of a Yellow Cab in north Edmonton about
11 p.m. Tuesday.

Mahamood's corpse may have lain in the trunk for four days
before tipsters told cops where to find him.

Officers arrested 25-year-old Karl Blair "Scooter" Strongman of
Ponoka and charged him with first-degree murder, unlawful
confinement and robbery, said cop spokesman Chris McLeod.
He wouldn't say where Strongman was picked up or what led to
his arrest.

Cops also issued warrants for Ronald Adrian Crane, 27 and
Deidre Renee Baptiste, 23, of Hobbema. They're wanted for first-
degree murder, unlawful confinement and robbery.

"Those people are very, very well known to police," McLeod
said.

Baptiste is five-foot-five, 209 pounds with brown eyes and black
hair. Crane is five-foot-nine, 260 pounds with brown eyes and
black hair. Both are native and are also believed to have gang
ties.

McLeod said the cab Mahamood was operating was last in
service Friday. A series of Tuesday afternoon tips alerted cops
to the cab's grisly contents.

The vehicle was tracked down to a parking lot at 113A Street
and 153 Avenue.

Officers "found a Yellow Cab with the body of a man in his early
40s in the trunk. The man had been in the trunk for more than a
day," said McLeod.

No other details are being released until an autopsy is
conducted today, he said.

Mahamood's widow Farhia arrived from Ottawa yesterday
afternoon, sobbing with grief as relatives whisked her form the
airport into the city.

Ifrah Mahamood, his 20-year-old daughter who had been living
in Calgary, said her dad was a loving man and the father of
seven children.

"Devastated is not the word," Ifrah said, struggling to hold back
tears. "He was a loving man. He was planing to move the family
down here (to Edmonton). He was a very kind man, everyone
loved him. Everyone in Ottawa, everyone here. He was a very
honest man."

She said police have told her little about her father's death.

"If something like this could happen that easily, it could happen
to anybody. I just hope they actually find (his killer) as soon as
possible."

Mahamood's nephew Mohamed Hersi said he last saw his uncle
alive last week, but he wasn't driving his regular cab at the time
because it was getting repaired.

Instead of his usual cab 337, Mahamood was driving cab
number 339, that of another cabbie who was on vacation.

Hersi was close to his uncle. "I feel terrible. It's sad," he said,
adding Mahamood would have turned 42 on May 5.

Terry Murphy said he had noticed an empty Yellow Cab in the
parking lot near his home. "I noticed that cab for three days,
sitting," said Murphy, adding he believed someone had simply
parked it there.

McLeod said Yellow Cab contacted police Tuesday about
Mahamood's disappearance.

Yellow Cab's director of operations Sid Slatch wouldn't comment
yesterday.

"We are fully co-operating with the authorities in the
investigation. That's all that I can tell you."

Some city cab drivers wonder why it took so long for Mahamood
to be found.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Edmonton Journal
(Edmonton, Alberta)
April 15, 2005

Driver had been missing for 5 days

Yellow Cab told twice that driver hadn't come home, cousin says

Renata D'Aliesio, Bill Mah and Vernon Clement Jones, withfiles
from Ryan Cormier, Keith Gerein and Duncan Thorne
The Edmonton Journal

Thursday, April 14, 2005

EDMONTON - In a parking lot between a liquor store and a
church in north Edmonton, Hassan Mohammed Yussuf had been
in the trunk of his taxi for five days before police detectives
found him dead.

Less than 24 hours later, police arrested one man and are
seeking two other people in the slaying.

Karl Blair Strongman, 25, of Ponoka, commonly known as
Scooter, was arrested Wednesday night and charged with first-
degree murder, unlawful confinement and robbery.

Ronald Adrian Crane, 27, and Deidre Renee Baptiste, 23, both
of Hobbema, are wanted for first-degree murder, unlawful
confinement and robbery.

Baptiste is aboriginal, five-foot-six, 209 pounds, with brown eyes
and black hair. Crane is aboriginal, five-foot-nine, 260 pounds,
with brown eyes and black hair.

Baptiste was already wanted on an outstanding warrant issued
Oct. 7, 2004, for failing to appear in court on a charge of
aggravated assault. Crane was scheduled to appear in
Edmonton court April 21 on a charge of carrying a concealed
weapon.

Yussuf was a father of seven and had been in Edmonton for less
than a year. Although he had two university degrees and
aspirations of becoming an electrician, the Somali immigrant
drove a taxi to support his family.

It's unknown whether Yussuf was still alive when his Yellow cab
was abandoned.

Sometime around 1 a.m. Friday, a group of people flagged down
his taxi outside a Mac's convenience store on 107th Avenue,
near 104th Street. Yussuf took them north of Alberta Hospital, to
a remote area near Horse Hill school and the city's northeastern
limits. That's likely where the 41-year-old was attacked, locked in
the trunk and driven to a parking lot near 153rd Avenue and
Castle Downs Road.

His killing has devastated his family and friends and frightened
fellow taxi drivers. How, they wonder, could so many days pass
without anyone noticing something was wrong?

"The question is why didn't they (Yellow Cab) know about
Hassan being missing for days?" his widow, Farha Yussuf,
asked after arriving in Edmonton from Ottawa.

"Please, if possible, I want to know."

Sid Slach, Yellow Cab's director of operations, said the company
is co-operating with police investigators, but declined to make
further comment. Edmonton police released few details
Wednesday about the city's eighth homicide.

Spokesman Chris McLeod said homicide detectives, following up
on a tip, discovered the body around 11 p.m. Tuesday. An
autopsy is scheduled for this afternoon.

"Investigations have really just begun, so we've yet to determine
exactly what motivated this," McLeod said. "This is certainly a
very violent crime and something that's very unusual for the city."

McLeod said the tip was one of four police received Tuesday.
Abdi Bakal, president of Somaliland Cultural Association in
Edmonton, said he heard the tip came from a woman, who was
one of four people Yussuf picked up in his taxi outside the
convenience store.

Yussuf isn't the first Edmonton-area cabbie killed while on the
job. In the most recent incident before Yussuf's death, a 13-year-
old boy beat a taxi driver to death with a bat in 1998. The driver
had been delivering beer and vodka to a home on the Samson
reserve, 85 kilometres south of Edmonton.

"It's not only this incident, but, in general, driving a cab is getting
dangerous in Edmonton," said driver Girma Tamre, adding that a
customer recently punched him in the nose.

"Drivers have been stabbed and abused. Ninety-nine per cent of
people in Edmonton are nice people, but there are a few bad
apples."

Rudy Berghuys, chairman of the Edmonton Taxi Cab
Commission, said violence against cabbies has long been a
concern. He said the industry may want to reconsider legislation
making certain security devices mandatory in all taxis.

"At our meetings, we've talked about safety shields, hidden
microphone switches, in-car cameras, GPS systems and so on,"
Berghuys said. "All of those things are available to the cab
drivers if they wish to use them. The question is, is it now time to
mandate the use of some of that equipment?"

Many Edmonton taxis have some of those features installed.
Yellow Cab, for example, has GPS systems and panic buttons in
all its cabs.

Safety shields, which provide a barrier between the back and
front seats, are not widely used in Edmonton taxis. Berghuys
said they have been tried in the past but the industry decided
against using them for a variety of reasons, including passenger
comfort.

In light of the death, the commission decided Wednesday to
have its safety committee re-examine the issue of driver security.
A report is expected within the next month or two.

Nearly 30 drivers attended the meeting, where a minute of
silence was observed for Yussuf. Others streamed by the
parking lot where his No. 339 taxi was found. His cousin, also a
taxi driver, was one of them.

"I don't understand why Yellow Cab didn't do anything to help
Hassan," said Hakim, who asked that his last name not be used.

"I really feel angry towards Yellow Cab because (Hassan's)
roommate called Yellow Cab on Friday and Saturday to tell them
he had not come home and they never did anything about it.

"They could have at least asked other cabbies to look out for
him. If they had done something sooner maybe he could have
been saved."

While Yellow Cab drivers must log on and off a computerized
dispatch system, some drivers said management keeps only
loose tabs on their whereabouts because they are essentially
self-employed. Drivers work when they want and decide on the
length of their shifts.

"You have to sign off, but if you don't, they don't bother to ask
you," one driver said.

Moe Chebli used to work for Yellow Cab before he and more
than 100 other drivers started a new co-operative company,
Capital Cab, last year.

Chebli said taxi drivers plan to gather at City Hall today to call
for improved security measures. He said cabbies across the city
are anxiously waiting to learn what happened to Yussuf and
whether his killing could have been prevented.

"We want to know if he was still alive -- could something have
been done," Chebli asked.

"Could he have been banging on the trunk? Could somebody
have heard him? Could he have been saved?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Ottawa Sun
(Ottawa, Ontario)
April 15, 2005

Widow seeks 'justice'

Cabbie killed in holdup, cops say

By ANDREW SEYMOUR, Ottawa Sun

THE WIDOW of a slain cabbie is calling for justice after the local
father of seven was found stabbed to death in the trunk of an
Edmonton taxi. "They have to find the people who murdered my
husband," said Farhia, the widow of 41-year-old Hassan "Yusuf"
Mahamood -- who was found dead late Tuesday -- yesterday.
"Justice ... that's what I need."

Farhia added that "one (of my children) was actually saying to
me, 'my father went to heaven, so don't cry' ... They are praying."

Mahamood's daughter, Ifrah, remembered her father as a "very
loving man, honest, kind.

"He always had a smile on his face," she said.

Ifrah said her father knew driving a cab could be a dangerous
business. "Anything could happen to him, picking up strangers
24-7," she said. "He could meet a lot of psychos out there."

But Ifrah said she "never thought this would happen to my dad."

ANGER IN COMMUNITY

Ottawa's Somali community was angry over the slaying.

"It's beyond human belief. I don't know why he had to die like
that," Abdirizak Karod, the executive director of the Somali
Centre for Family Services, said yesterday.

Karod knew Mahamood for eight years.

"It's tragic for the family, tragic for the Somali community and
tragic for Ottawa because he spent much of the last 15 years
here and he belongs to this city."

Mahamood, whose wife and seven children live in Ottawa, had
been missing since Friday.

Police said Mahamood's body had been in the trunk for more
than a day. An autopsy showed he suffered stab wounds to his
upper body, and at least one was fatal.

"It looks like a simple robbery that turned extremely violent," said
Edmonton police spokesman Chris McLeod.

Police charged Karl Blair "Scooter" Strongman, 25, with first-
degree murder, unlawful confinement and robbery.

Two other suspects, Ronald Adrian Crane, 27, and Deidre
Renee Baptiste, 23, are wanted on first-degree murder and other
charges.

A source familiar with the Native gang scene in Edmonton said
Mahamood was slain by members of Redd Alert who never
intended to pay him. "It was a jacking that went bad," said the
source. "But these guys don't care."

Police have a key witness in protective custody.

Friends in Ottawa described Mahamood as an easygoing, well-
educated family man who moved out West hoping to provide a
better life for his children.

Despite holding two degrees in science from schools in
Mogadishu and Russia, attending classes at Algonquin College
and speaking five languages, Mahamood worked odd jobs to
make ends meet after arriving from war-torn Somalia in 1992.

Mahamood's son Abdigani, 17, who was preparing to take his
five-year-old sister Iman and two-year-old brother Samatar to
Edmonton yesterday to join the rest of the family, said he last
saw his father a month ago.

Nephew Mohamed Hersi said Mahamood hoped to move his
family out West this summer.

The Somali Centre's Karod, who last spoke to Mahamood by
phone last week, said the cabbie was asking about
organizations that would recognize his education so he could
land a better job.

"Someone who is raising seven kids is a good father. It was
always about his family," said Karod.

West Way cab driver Abdirahman Farah, 46, said his friend's
horrible death is one of the reasons he won't work the night shift.
It also has left local cabbies shaken.

"If it could happen to him, it could happen to me or anybody," he
said.

Mahamood's cousin Abdullahi Mohamed said the family is
heartbroken by the killing of the gentle, caring man.

"Why did they have to this?" he asked. "Why not just take the
money?"

andrew.seymour@ott.sunpub.com

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CBC Edmonton
(Edmonton, Alberta)
April 15, 2005

Cab driver stabbed to death

Last Updated Apr 15 2005 08:17 AM MDT
CBC News

EDMONTON - A cab driver whose body was found in the trunk
of his car was stabbed to death, police said Thursday.

Police spokesman Chris McLeod said Hassan Yusuf might have
survived his injuries - including a fatal wound to his upper body
- had he received immediate attention.

Yusuf's body was found five days after he went missing.

"One fatal stab wound was the cause of death, and also he
suffered multiple non-fatal stab wounds to his upper body,"
McLeod said. "There is a chance, had there been immediate
medical attention given, that he could have survived."

McLeod said the medical examiner couldn't determine whether
Yusuf, the father of seven, had still been alive when he was put
in the Yellow Cab's trunk.

According to friends and his family, Yusuf's roommate called
Yellow Cab Friday and Saturday to report that he hadn't come
home. Police found his body Tuesday night.

McLeod says they are investigating the response from the
company. Earlier Thursday, Yellow Cab representatives didn't
want to comment.

Three people have been charged with first-degree murder,
unlawful confinement and robbery in connection with Yusuf's
death. One man was arrested Wednesday, and a man and a
woman turned themselves into police Thursday.

Yusuf had been driving a cab in Edmonton for less than a year,
and his family was planning to join him from Ottawa later this
spring. Instead, they arrived Wednesday to identify his body.

His 20-year-old daughter Ifrah Mahmood said they have
concerns about how Yellow Cab responded to her father's
disappearance.

"I don't know what kind of company my dad worked for, how
would they not know someone who was missing three days and
he works for them, drives their cab," Mahmood said.

She said Yusuf, who brought his family to Canada from Somalia,
had two degrees and spoke five languages, and had hoped to
eventually find work as an electrician.

Thursday, about 150 Edmonton taxi drivers slowly circled City
Hall, to draw attention to how dangerous their job is.

"How many drivers do we have to lose?" Soner Yasa, who drives
for Prestige, said.

The drivers want the taxi commission to look at making bullet-
resistant shields between the front and back seats mandatory,
and want security cameras installed.

Yasa paid $1,500 to have a camera put in his cab after he was
almost choked to death during a robbery four years ago.

"It's dangerous all the time," Yasa said. "You never know who
you're picking up, they could kill you for 10 bucks."

The taxi commission is looking at recommending that all cabs
install cameras, but president Rudy Berghuys says they've tried
the shields and passengers and drivers didn't like them.

Terry Smythe, who was head of the Manitoba Taxi Cab Board
and now runs a website on driver safety, says no cab drivers
have been murdered in Winnipeg since they mandated safety
shields, cameras and global positioning systems.

He says while there have been robberies with the safety
equipment, the rate of conviction has been good because of the
cameras.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Edmonton Sun
(Edmonton, Alberta)
April 15, 2005

'Hollering for his life'

PAUL COWAN AND AJAY BHARDWAJ, EDMONTON SUN

Father-of-seven Hassan Mohamud Yussuf begged for his life,
telling his killers he had kids, but they stabbed him again and
again before stuffing him in the trunk of his cab, says the key
witness, who was then ordered to drive. The woman, who spoke
on condition of anonymity, is now in protective custody.

"He was hollering for his life, 'Stop, I have kids,' " the woman told
the Sun last night.

Police now have three suspects in custody after Deidre Baptiste,
23, and Ronald Adrian Crane, 27, turned themselves in last night
at Edmonton Police Service headquarters just before 11 p.m.

Both were charged with first-degree murder, unlawful
confinement and robbery.

Cop spokesman Chris McLeod said RCMP and the suspects'
families played key roles in turning themselves in.

Police already had Karl Blair Strongman, also known as Scooter,
in custody. He's also charged with first-degree murder, unlawful
confinement and robbery.

A Sun source familiar with the native gang scene in Edmonton
said members of Redd Alert were involved in Yussuf's killing.

The witness said she jumped into the cab Friday morning with
three other people at 107 Avenue and 104 Street. The group told
Yussuf, 41, to drive to a location in north Edmonton.

By the time they got there, one of the men said he was sick and
asked Yussuf to stop the car, said the woman.

Yussuf, she said, then pulled over near Horse Hill school, 19355
Meridian St., and two men got out of the cab. One began to pull
out Yussuf.

"He starts to pull the cabbie out and he stabs him," she said.
Another woman in the car then got out and joined in the
stabbing, said the witness.

"Then they went to the back of the cab and I didn't see anything
because I didn't want to get out of the cab."

But the trio hollered at the woman to get out. "By then they had
him in the ditch in the road and he was full of blood."

The man and woman continued to stab Yussuf, while the
bloodied man pleaded for his life, said the witness.

She said two men eventually stuffed Yussuf into the trunk of the
car and ordered her to drive.

"I just kind of went blank, into a panicked stage I guess," she
said. "I've never seen anything like this in my life, I've never
experienced anything like this."

Crane told the Sun in February that he was afraid of police after
a provincial court judge halted a prosecution against him on two
counts of assaulting RCMP officers.

The judge ruled that the officers had over-reacted to Crane
spitting on them by punching him several times at his mother's
home in Hobbema.

Yussuf was found stuffed in the trunk of his cab Tuesday night in
a parking lot at 113A Street and 153 Avenue. It had been sitting
there for three days.

His cousin Abdullahi Mohamed said the family is heartbroken by
the killing of a man they knew as a gentle caring person.

"Why did they have to this? Why not just take the money? This
is a tragedy but it can happen to any Canadian."

An autopsy yesterday showed Yussuf suffered multiple stab
wounds, the fatal one delivered to the upper body.

McLeod said if he had received immediate medical attention
after the attack, Yussuf might have lived.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ottawa Citizen
(Ottawa, Ontario)
April 15, 2005

Cabbie lived 'national embarrassment' of many immigrants
underemployment: Slain former Ottawa man was educated,
energetic

Meagan Fitzpatrick and Juliet O'Neill, with files from Mike
Haymes
The Ottawa Citizen; with files The Edmonton Journal

April 15, 2005

There's the dreadful thought that the cash stolen by those who
killed Hassan Yusuf was part of the money he'd saved to fly his
now devastated wife Farhia and seven children from Ottawa to
Edmonton where they were supposed to start a new life with a
better income.

Or it might have been money he had planned to send, as he
reliably and regularly did, back to extended family in Somalia,
where the economy has long been shattered by war and people
depend on help from expatriate relatives for the basic stuff of life.

Either way, these are among the quintessential elements of the
immigrant life Mr. Yusuf, 41, is said to have experienced in
Canada -- that of a man who is well educated, energetic and
determined to prosper for a large family, but who could not find
work for which he was qualified.

His family lived against a backdrop of what Nancy Worsfold, one
of Ottawa's prominent community immigrant services leaders,
calls "the national embarrassment" of so many immigrants,
including those who do have Canadian academic credentials or
training, winding up in survival jobs. It's a backdrop, she says, of
massive underemployment.

"It's tragic that anyone be murdered when working as a taxi
driver, but it seems so sad that this guy had to be driving a taxi
when he had so much more to offer because of his education
and because of his language skills," she said yesterday. "It's
almost like a double tragedy."

Mr. Yusuf was described by family, friends and acquaintances as
a quiet, intelligent, good-natured man who came to Canada from
Somalia a dozen years ago planning to earn a good life in a
peaceful country. He was born in the northeastern state of
Puntland but grew up in the capital, Mogadishu. They say he
had academic credentials from Somalia and Russia in
agricultural sciences and spoke several languages.

"He was a quiet person, family oriented, trying to survive and be
a good citizen of this country," said Farah Aw-Osman, a friend
who is a youth counsellor at Somali Centre for Family Services
in Ottawa. "Even though he was well educated, he couldn't find a
job in Ottawa in his profession, like many other immigrants. A lot
of immigrants are working in cleaning and taxi driving and that
stuff, even though they have high degrees from Europe or other
parts of the world. But that's the system."

On top of credentials problems, says Ms. Worsfold, there is also
"plain old racism in the labour market." That is apparent by the
numbers of people she meets who get Canadian credentials, but
still can't land a job for which they are qualified. As recently as a
couple of weeks ago, says Abdirizak Karod, Mr. Yusuf spoke to
him by phone about getting his qualifications from Somalia
certified in Canada.

"He was a great human being; he helped a lot of people here
and in Somalia," said Mr. Karod, executive director of the Somali
Centre for Family Services. "He was educated. You could sense
it in the way he spoke, the way he argued. He was the one
always willing to help."

Mohamoud Hagi-Aden, another Somalian community leader,
said Mr. Yusuf's death was shocking to everyone.

Mr. Hagi-Aden did not know Mr. Yusuf, but said his
underemployment "is something the Somalian community shares
with so many immigrant communities. The difficulty is foreign
credentials are not recognized. We would like to see some
mechanisms so at least there is a support network and education
and skills can be upgraded."

The best job Mr. Yusuf apparently found in Ottawa was a far cry
from agricultural sciences. He worked on the assembly line at
JDS during the high-tech boom years. At the peak, the company
employed 12,000 workers; now it's down to 500 local employees.
Reports that Mr. Yusuf drove a taxi in Ottawa were incorrect. His
cousin drives a taxi here, which may have caused confusion in
initial reports.

Mr. Yusuf did embark on retraining. He started working toward a
diploma in electrical engineering at Algonquin College. But he
was not finished when he decided to move to Edmonton. Fellow
Somalis who had moved to Edmonton from Ottawa told him the
economy was much better in Alberta and he should give it a go.
He landed a job with Yellow Cab and got settled enough to
return to Ottawa a month ago to arrange his family's move.

"He moved to Edmonton to get a better job, to get a better life,"
said Abdirahman Farah, best friend of Mr. Yusuf's cousin,
Osman Warsame. "He was trying very hard. He was a simple
guy. ... He was always smiling."

"He was looking for a better life, to start a new life," said Mr.
Warsame. "He was always looking for a better job." Mr.
Warsame said he Mr. Yusuf had a thirst for, and enjoyment of,
knowledge and was always reading scientific books. He was
also such a soccer fan that he would get up in the middle of the
night to watch European matches on TV, especially his favourite
team, Milano. One friend said he often read books at Chapters.

The Yusuf family lives in a modest five-bedroom house in
Britannia Woods. Mrs. Yusuf brought four of her children to
Edmonton Wednesday and three others stayed behind in care of
relatives. Three of the children -- 10-year-old Ebyan, nine-year-
old Sahid and seven-year-old Ilwad, attend Severn Avenue
Public School. The principal there sent a newsletter home with
students yesterday, offering counselling from psychologists or
social workers for any child who is upset by their friends' loss.

"We're going to play it by ear to see what response is
necessary," said principal Ron Lynch. "So far, the reaction has
been fairly mild, but we're keeping an eye on a couple of kids.
Some kids don't have much experience with death."

Mr. Yusuf's daughter, Ifra, held back tears when she spoke to
the Canadian Press in Edmonton. "Devastated is not the word,"
she said. "He was a loving man. ... He was a very kind man,
everyone loved him. Everyone in Ottawa, everyone here. He was
a very honest man.'

Mr. Aw-Osman said he was well- loved and respected in Ottawa.
He rarely missed a community social function. "He comes from a
very large family and he was helping them. Every Somali who
comes to this country, that's what they do," Mr. Aw-Osman said.
"They do not forget the people they left behind. There's no
government, there's no work there, no private institutions to work
for. A lot of people are stuck because of the civil war for the past
15 years, and they depend on what's coming from relatives in
North America and European countries."

Mr. Warsame said that while grieving Mr. Yusuf, many will also
smile at the fun they had with him. "He was a laugh," Mr.
Warsame added. "When you were sitting with Hassan, you didn't
need anything else, because he was making you laugh. He had
a good sense of humour -- that's one thing we cannot forget."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Edmonton Journal
(Edmonton, Alberta)
April 15, 2005

Cabbies rally at City Hall to decry lack of safety measures

Bill Mah, with files from Ryan Cormier
The Edmonton Journal

April 15, 2005

EDMONTON - One black ribbon wasn't enough to convey the
grief Mohamed Chebli feels for slain cabbie Hassan Yussuf.

The Co-op taxi driver knotted together ribbons Thursday until a
dark streamer two metres long fluttered from his white cab's
rooftop aerial in the cold rain and wind.

"We prayed together at the mosque," Chebli said. "He was a
very, very good man. Honest to God, if I could breathe life back
into him, I would do it."

Chebli and an estimated 100 taxi drivers from several companies
drove their orange, white, yellow and green cabs in a sombre
parade around City Hall to show respect for a fallen cabbie.

Yussuf's body was found by police detectives Tuesday night in
the trunk of his Yellow Cab No. 339 in Castle Downs, where it
had been abandoned after a fare early Friday morning.

An autopsy showed he was stabbed fatally in the upper body
and suffered several other non-fatal stab wounds to his upper
body.

Karl Blair Strongman, 25, of Ponoka, has been charged with
first-degree murder, unlawful confinement, and robbery.
Warrants were issued for Ronald Adrian Crane, 27, and Deidre
Renee Baptiste, 23, both of Hobbema.

Many drivers at the rally lashed out against a lack of protection
from unruly passengers who physically abuse them.

"I'm here to honour (Yussuf), to stand behind him because all of
us have had enough of this ..." Chebli said.

"If the city would do something to protect the cab drivers, maybe
put up shields, none of this would happen to us."

Some cabbies demanded to know why Yellow Cab did not report
Yussuf missing to police until Tuesday evening, five days after
he was last heard from.

"It is surprising the body was there for four or five days," said
G.S. Klair, a driver with Capital Taxi, a company formed by
disgruntled Yellow Cab drivers.

"The company did not bother to keep track of him."

Yussuf's roommate called Yellow Cab on Friday and Saturday to
tell them he had not come home, said Yussuf's cousin.

Sid Slach, Yellow Cab's district director of operations, denied
Thursday that managers or supervisors at the company knew
anything was amiss.

"We have no knowledge of anybody phoning at this time and
reporting a missing driver," Slach said.

"We are currently going through all of our telephone calls and
investigating into great detail all the calls that came into our
offices."

Taxi drivers work as subcontractors who do not work set hours,
he added. Drivers sign in and off on computerized dispatch
systems, which automatically shut off if untouched after four
hours.

At Thursday's rally, drivers taped signs in their windows: "148
plus 1. Another day of mourning."

The number represents the number of cabbies killed on the job
in Canada since 1912, said Bill Handous, a marketing director at
Capital Taxi.

Handous said it's not enough for drivers to demand more
protection, such as protective shields -- an idea considered in
the 1980s, but never adopted. He said passengers have to let
the taxi industry know what protective devices they would accept
in a cab, such as cameras or microphones.

Mayor Stephen Mandel, who emerged from his office to meet
with some of the drivers, said he wants to set up a meeting next
week between city managers and members of the Edmonton
Taxi Cab Commission.

"I don't want to rush out all of a sudden, and rip all the cabs
apart and install security systems. Let's take a look at what
needs to happen."

Handous said two funds have been set up at TD Bank; one for
Yussuf's family and one for the families of all cabbies killed on
the job.

bmah@thejournal.canwest.com

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

CBC Ottawa
(Ottawa, Ontario)
April 15, 2005

Suspects surrender in cab driver's murder

Last Updated Apr 15 2005 01:03 PM EDT
CBC News

OTTAWA - A man and a woman wanted on Canada-wide
warrants in the murder of an Ottawa man in Edmonton turned
themselves in to police on Thursday night.

Hassan Yusuf 's family was going to join him in Edmonton from
Ottawa this spring.

Ronald Crane, 27, and Deidre Renee Baptiste, 23, have been
charged with first-degree murder in the death of Hassan Yusuf.
His body was found in the trunk of his Yellow Cab on Tuesday
night.

Police have already charged Karl Strongman, 25.

An autopsy Thursday revealed that Yusuf, 41, suffered many
stab wounds, including one fatal blow to a lung.

Edmonton police spokesperson Chris McLeod said the only way
Yusuf would have survived is if he received medical attention
right after his injuries.

"It would have had to be pretty immediate assistance," McLeod
said. "But there is a chance, had there been immediate medical
attention given, that he could have survived."

The last time Yusuf operated his taxi was April 8. Police found
his body four days later.

The cab was parked in an alley behind a grocery store and
liquor store. Police suspect three of Yusuf's passengers killed
and robbed him. McLeod says Yusuf's wallet was missing.

Yusuf moved to Edmonton to find work. His wife and seven
children were planning to join him this spring.

A friend in Ottawa, Abdirahman Farah, who described Yusuf as
"always smiling," was shocked by the news of his death. Like
many, he wants to know why the cab company his friend was
working for didn't bother to report one of its drivers missing.

One of Yusuf's daughters, Ifrah Mahamood, had the same
question.

"I don't know what kind of company my dad actually worked for.
This is beyond irresponsible, I mean, how would they not know?"

A spokesman for Yellow Cab said he had no knowledge of
phone calls from Yusuf's roommate, adding that the company
was going through its telephone records.

Fellow cab drivers drove around Edmonton's city hall Thursday
in a cortège to pay respect to their slain colleague.

A total of 149 cab drivers have been murdered in Canada since
1912.

In Ottawa, the Somali community is mourning Yusuf, who despite
speaking five languages and holding two university degrees,
was forced to move away from his family and drive a cab.

A funeral was scheduled for Friday in Edmonton. By Muslim
tradition, the burial must take place as soon as possible after the
death.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Edmonton Journal
(Edmonton, Alberta)
April 15, 2005

Driver fought back while being stabbed

Ryan Cormier and Renata D'Aliesio Sound Off
The Edmonton Journal

Friday, April 15, 2005

CREDIT: Rick MacWilliam, The Journal

DRIVERS MOURN SLAIN CABBIE: Avtar Grewal attaches a
ribbon to a cab in memory of slain cabbie Hassan Mohamud
Yussuf, who was found slain this week in the trunk of his cab.
Cabbies who gathered downtown Thursday to mourn Yussuf
also called for more safety measures for taxis.

EDMONTON - Two suspects in the killing of city cab driver
Hassan Mohamud Yussuf turned themselves in to police just
before 11 p.m. Thursday.

Ronald Adrian Crane, 27, and Deidre Renee Baptiste, 23, both
of Hobbema, walked into Edmonton police headquarters with
family members.

They had been wanted for first-degree murder, unlawful
confinement and robbery.

Police spokesman Chris McLeod said family members had
encouraged the pair to give themselves up to police. Both had
been in Edmonton since warrants were issued for them
Wednesday night.

McLeod said RCMP officers were instrumental in negotiating the
surrender of the two suspects.

The third suspect, Karl Blair Strongman, 25, of Ponoka, was
arrested on Wednesday. He faces the same charges.

Earlier Thursday, an autopsy showed Yussuf, a father of seven,
was stabbed fatally in the upper body and suffered several non-
fatal stab wounds to the same area.

The 41-year-old's body was found in the trunk of Yellow Cab No.
339 in north Edmonton, where it had been parked for five days
after he was attacked early Friday morning.

"Had he been given immediate medical attention, he may have
survived," said McLeod.

The autopsy on Yussuf's body failed to determine whether he
was dead or alive when he was put in the trunk of his cab.

Yussuf had been in Edmonton for less than a year. Although he
had two university degrees and aspirations to become an
electrician, the Somali immigrant drove a taxi to support his
family in Ottawa.

Sources say Yussuf picked up two men and two women early on
April 8, near a Mac's convenience store on 107th Avenue at
104th Street. They asked him to head to an area near Alberta
Hospital, which is close to the city's northeastern limits.

When the taxi stopped, one of the group got of the cab and
moved towards Yussuf. A police source said Thursday that
Yussuf was then pulled out of the taxi and stabbed several times
on the road. Yussuf did attempt to fight back against the attack,
the source said.

One of the stabbings pierced his lung.

Forensic police investigators have combed the road and ditches
for clues.

Several hundred dollars were stolen from Yussuf.

The source said Yussuf's attackers disabled the taxi's global
positioning system, which uses satellites to track location. With
Yussuf in the trunk, his attackers drove his Yellow Cab to 153rd
Avenue and Castle Downs Road. They abandoned his taxi in a
parking lot between a liquor store and a Baptist church. A
Sobeys grocery store and a lowrise condominium are nearby.

The taxi sat parked at an angle until police detectives, acting on
a tip, opened the trunk and found Yussuf's body around 11 p.m.
Tuesday.

A fellow cab driver said Yussuf's roommate had called Yellow
Cab for two days to tell them he had not come home.

On Thursday, Yellow Cab's district director of operations said
managers didn't know anything about Yussuf being reported
missing. Sid Slach said the company is combing through
telephone calls that came in to their offices.

Baptiste was wanted on an outstanding warrant issued Oct. 7,
2004, for failing to appear in court on a charge of aggravated
assault. Crane was scheduled to appear in Edmonton court April
21 on a charge of carrying a concealed weapon.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Edmonton Sun
(Edmonton, Alberta)
April 18, 2005

Protest driven by anger

ANDREW HANON, SPECIAL TO THE EDMONTON SUN

With grim outrage etched onto their faces, and waving placards,
hundreds of Edmonton cab drivers and members of the Somali
community took to the streets yesterday to call for safer working
conditions. A foot procession wound its way from Sahabah
Restaurant, 10715 107 Ave., to Churchill Square, where scores
of honking taxis circled the two blocks around the square and
City Hall.

The sadistic murder last week of cabbie Hassan Mohammud
Yussuf, 41, has galvanized taxi drivers. They say they are fed up
with taking their lives into their hands every time they get behind
the wheel.

Every single cabbie who spoke to the Sun shared a story of
being victimized.

Rahmi Koc said that three months ago, he was forced to leap out
of his taxi and run down Whyte Avenue to escape a knife-
wielding thug Koc had refused a ride in his cab. He called 911
on his cellphone as he ran.

Serdar Oktay said he was robbed at gunpoint on his second day
on the job.

Fred Shiran pointed to a shattered side mirror on his cab, which
had been smashed Saturday night by a passenger as he ran
away without paying for his ride.

"I didn't get paid and now I have to fix the mirror myself," he said.
"That's money out of my pocket."

Next month, Edmonton's taxi commission is expected to toughen
safety standards in the city bylaw governing cabs.

According to commission vice-chair Clint Mellors, measures
such as mandatory safety shields, surveillance cameras and
panic buttons are under consideration.

"Shields are the most important thing," said one cabbie who
refused to give his name.

In response to concerns that putting a barrier between drivers
and passengers will reduce tips, he said, "I have a wife and
daughter at home. They want my safety more than tips."

Abdi Hassan was stabbed by a passenger 16 years ago in
Toronto. After the incident, he installed a safety screen in his
cab.

"I was much safer after that," he said. "It was really bad in
Toronto back then. I've been here in Edmonton for a year and I
can see it's getting worse here, too."

Most cabbies said they are willing to pay higher fees to the cab
companies if the city makes shields or cameras mandatory.

The City of Winnipeg already requires shields. Winnipeg cab
owner Raj Grewal said he equipped his four vehicles for about
$3,500, and the city allowed him to recoup the expense by
charging a 25-cent per ride levy. After a couple of years, the levy
was removed.

Generally, Grewal said, the shields are very effective, but he
thinks the surveillance cameras he installed for about $1,200
each are better.

"When people know they're on camera, they behave," he said.

'It was really bad in Toronto back then. I've been in Edmonton for
a year and I can see it's getting worse here, too.'

- Abdi Hassan, city taxi driver who was stabbed by a passenger
16 years ago in Toronto.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Edmonton Journal
(Edmonton, Alberta)
April 18, 2005

Dead cabbie remembered

Crowd at City Hall pays tribute to father of seven, calls for better
safety measures for drivers

Archie McLean
The Edmonton Journal

April 18, 2005

EDMONTON - Driving a cab at night has always felt risky to
Minaz Makhani. But after a fellow cabbie was found stabbed and
stuffed in the trunk of his car last week, it suddenly became a lot
more frightening.

"In the last four days, I've only been driving two hours a day,
because I'm so scared," Makhani said.

"Everybody is scared -- my family, my wife," he said. "Every half-
hour, they are calling, asking are you safe? Are you OK?"

Makhani, a Barrel Taxi driver, was one of about 200 people who
gathered at Churchill Square on Sunday to remember Hassan
Yussuf and to demand better safety for the city's cab drivers.
They brought about 50 cabs to the event.

"It's the Canadian way to protect people in the workplace," said
Azeb Zemariam, a fellow driver.

"We don't want to see another taxi driver die."

Zemariam and others in attendance called for mandatory
partitions between the driver and passengers, as well as security
cameras in each car.

Marchers, many of them Somali, chanted slogans and held signs
bearing messages such as: Hassan Was Serving the Public, and
Stop the Senseless Killing.

Behind them, cabs of all colours circled the square, honking their
horns in support.

"Mr. Yussuf will be remembered as a hard-working and caring
father," said Hassan Ali, president of the Somali-Canadian
Cultural Society of Edmonton.

"He came to Edmonton to provide for his family.

"Unfortunately, he was brutally murdered by cruel and senseless
criminals."

Ali called on the entire community to support Yussuf's family
during its hard times.

Among those in attendance was Mayor Stephen Mandel, who
expressed his sadness at Yussuf's death and promised better
safety for drivers.

For now, though, he's not sure of the best way to deliver that.

In coming weeks, the taxi companies will meet with their drivers
and with the Edmonton Taxi Cab Commission to discuss options.

Safety concerns have to be weighed against the drivers' ability
to make a good living, the mayor said.

"We're not here to force them to do things," Mandel said. "We
want to make sure they're safe and secure. There's nothing that
is a simple solution when you're dealing with livelihoods of
people and costs to people."

Yussuf, 41, was found dead in the trunk of his cab in north
Edmonton last Tuesday. He had been there for five days.

The father of seven had two university degrees and spoke five
languages. Three people have been arrested in connection with
his death.

Two trust funds have been set up at the TD Bank: one for
Yussuf's family and one for the families of cabbies killed on the
job.

amclean@thejournal.canwest.com

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

CBC Edmonton
(Edmonton, Alberta)
April 18, 2005

Cabbies call for safety measures after murder

Last Updated Apr 18 2005 10:39 AM MDT
CBC News

EDMONTON - The city's cabbies and the Somali community
staged a protest Sunday, two days after the funeral of a driver
found stabbed to death in the trunk of his car.

The body of Hassan Yusuf, 41, was found by police April 12, four
days after he went missing. Two men and a woman have been
charged with first-degree murder and robbery in his death.

Taxi drivers have rallied, demanding the city look at making the
installation of shields and cameras mandatory. They first drove
around City Hall Thursday, and returned with members of the
city's Somali community Sunday.

Yusuf had fled war-torn Somali for Canada, where he and his
wife were raising their seven children in Ottawa. He had come to
Edmonton a few weeks before his death to drive a cab.

His family said Yusuf had two degrees and spoke five
languages, and had hoped to eventually find work as an
electrician.

Mayor Stephen Mandel, who attended the protest, said it will be
up to the taxi commission to decide the best way to protect
drivers.

"I look forward to the taxi commission dealing with the taxi
groups to see what is the best way, and to help them come up
with the changes, if that's what they want to do," Mandel said.

The taxi commission is looking at recommending that all cabs
install cameras, but president Rudy Berghuys says they've tried
the shields and passengers and drivers didn't like them.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Edmonton Sun
(Edmonton, Alberta)
April 21, 2005

Mayor calls for taxi cab shields

Wants to find a way to pay for them

By MAX MAUDIE AND PAUL COWAN, EDMONTON SUN

Mayor Stephen Mandel said yesterday the time has come for
mandatory safety shields in taxi cabs. "When drivers lose their
lives, and guys show me stab wounds, and a guy got beaten up,
had 13 stitches, I mean, let's protect them. It's ridiculous not to.

"We have to make it mandatory and we have to find a way in
which we can help offset some of the ongoing costs for the
drivers."

Mandel was speaking to media after his state of the city address
at the downtown Westin Hotel.

Last week's slaying of cabbie Hassan Mohamud Yussuf, 41, has
led many taxi drivers to say they are fed up with taking their lives
into their hands every time they work.

If cab companies don't want the shields, Mandel said drivers
should be polled: "... send out a letter to every driver in the city
with a check mark on it: Do you want it or don't you. The drivers
seem to want it, the companies might not."

Mandel added he didn't want to usurp the authority of the taxi
commission and wanted to wait to hear from them.

The Edmonton Taxi Commission's safety committee met
yesterday with industry representatives. Chair Samir Sleiman
agreed with Mandel that it may be necessary to poll all the
drivers.

"There is no magic solution. A survey of the drivers will give us a
mandate," said Sleiman.

Drivers who own their own cabs are free to install safety shields
or cameras. But many drivers rent their cabs from the big taxi
companies. "There are issues about training and experience and
whatever safety measures are put in place won't eliminate the
danger 100%," said Sleiman.

The commission is to meet May 11 to discuss safety issues.

A trust fund has been set up for the slain taxi driver's family.
Donations can be made at any TD Bank to the Hassan Yussuf
Family Foundation. Yussuf had seven children.

Karl Strongman, 25, Ronald Adrian Crane, 27, and Deidre
Renee Baptiste, 23, have been charged with first-degree murder.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Driver fought back while being stabbed

Ryan Cormier and Renata D'Aliesio
The Edmonton Journal
April 15, 2005

CREDIT: Rick MacWilliam, The Journal

DRIVERS MOURN SLAIN CABBIE: Avtar Grewal attaches a ribbon to a  cab in
memory of slain cabbie Hassan Mohamud Yussuf, who was found  slain this
week in the trunk of his cab. Cabbies who gathered downtown  Thursday to
mourn Yussuf also called for more safety measures for taxis.

EDMONTON - Two suspects in the killing of city cab driver Hassan
Mohamud Yussuf turned themselves in to police just before 11 p.m.
Thursday.

Ronald Adrian Crane, 27, and Deidre Renee Baptiste, 23, both of
Hobbema, walked into Edmonton police headquarters with family  members.

They had been wanted for first-degree murder, unlawful confinement and
robbery.

Police spokesman Chris McLeod said family members had encouraged  the
pair to give themselves up to police. Both had been in Edmonton  since
warrants were issued for them Wednesday night.

McLeod said RCMP officers were instrumental in negotiating the
surrender of the two suspects.

The third suspect, Karl Blair Strongman, 25, of Ponoka, was arrested on
Wednesday. He faces the same charges.

Earlier Thursday, an autopsy showed Yussuf, a father of seven, was
stabbed fatally in the upper body and suffered several non-fatal stab
wounds to the same area.

The 41-year-old's body was found in the trunk of Yellow Cab No. 339 in
north Edmonton, where it had been parked for five days after he was
attacked early Friday morning.

"Had he been given immediate medical attention, he may have survived,"
said McLeod.

The autopsy on Yussuf's body failed to determine whether he was dead  or
alive when he was put in the trunk of his cab.

Yussuf had been in Edmonton for less than a year. Although he had two
university degrees and aspirations to become an electrician, the Somali
immigrant drove a taxi to support his family in Ottawa.

Sources say Yussuf picked up two men and two women early on April 8,
near a Mac's convenience store on 107th Avenue at 104th Street. They
asked him to head to an area near Alberta Hospital, which is close to
the  city's northeastern limits.

When the taxi stopped, one of the group got of the cab and moved
towards Yussuf. A police source said Thursday that Yussuf was then
pulled out of the taxi and stabbed several times on the road. Yussuf did
attempt to fight back against the attack, the source said.

One of the stabbings pierced his lung.

Forensic police investigators have combed the road and ditches for
clues.

Several hundred dollars were stolen from Yussuf.

The source said Yussuf's attackers disabled the taxi's global
positioning  system, which uses satellites to track location. With
Yussuf in the trunk,  his attackers drove his Yellow Cab to 153rd Avenue
and Castle Downs  Road. They abandoned his taxi in a parking lot between
a liquor store and  a Baptist church. A Sobeys grocery store and a
lowrise condominium are  nearby.

The taxi sat parked at an angle until police detectives, acting on a
tip,  opened the trunk and found Yussuf's body around 11 p.m. Tuesday.

A fellow cab driver said Yussuf's roommate had called Yellow Cab for two
days to tell them he had not come home.

On Thursday, Yellow Cab's district director of operations said managers
didn't know anything about Yussuf being reported missing. Sid Slach said
the company is combing through telephone calls that came in to their
offices.

Baptiste was wanted on an outstanding warrant issued Oct. 7, 2004, for
failing to appear in court on a charge of aggravated assault. Crane was
scheduled to appear in Edmonton court April 21 on a charge of carrying a
concealed weapon.

rcormier@thejournal.canwest.com

rd'aliesio@thejournal.canwest.com

Cabbie Slaying

(c) The Edmonton Journal 2005

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Soundoff! (Readers' comments)

Name: Hal
Occupation: retired
Location: Edmonton

I just read the two Journal articles pertaining to this murder. One
thing  really sticks outin my mind. I can't help but wonder why the cab
drivers  think it is the responsibility of the city to ensure their
safety! If the drivers  want increased safety measures, eg. shields to
separate driver from  customer, why don't the cab
companies/owner/operaters install them?


Name: Kurt B.
Occupation: Student
Location: Edmonton

Hal, the cabbies understand that their companies will have to furnish
that.  They're simply asking the city to enforce the cab companies to do
it,  since they would probably see it as a detriment to business.
Safety is more important than a few customers complaining about the
shields, if you ask me.

Name: Susan Davies
Occupation: Administrative
Location: Edmonton

I am afraid to pick up my Edmonton Journal every day because the
headlines are invariably another murder, another body found - on a golf
course, under a footbridge in a city park, in the trunk of a cab.What is
this world coming to? A loving father of 7 who's worked himself to the
bone to become educated, often laboring at minimal wage jobs to keep
his family together is viciously stabbed to death for no reason. If the
gutless group who did this wanted to rob him and take his car, why
didn't  they just do that and leave him to find his way back to town?
Cabbies are  in an incredibly vulnerable position; when they are
instructed to drive out  of town to a rural area without being given a
proper address, they should  have a microphone that is on at all times
so that the dispatcher can hear  what is going on. And I believe there
should be bullet-proof screens  between the front and back seats, no
matter how uncomfortable it is for  the passengers. The people who did
this will rot in hell.

Name: Samuel Getachew
Email: samuel_getachew@hotmail.com
Occupation:
Location: Ottawa

The issue of this foreign educated taxi driver shows us that immigrants
try their best to make a contribution despite all the odds. I am sure he
did  not come to Canada to be a taxi driver but to be a professional....
but  despite having two degrees he was forced to drive a taxi. His story
resonates with so many foreign PHD, Law and medical graduates who  are
forced to clean office buildings, drive taxi ....despite being welcomed
by Canada for having those very same qualifications

Name: mary
Occupation:
Location: edmonton

There are so many victims because of this brutal and vicious attack. I
cannot imagine what his family and friends are going through.
By the way...Hal- you read about this murder and THAT's what comes to
your mind?? How about pausing for compassion first.

Name: Don
Occupation: Public Servant
Location: Edmonton

It sounds like Yellow Cab has no system in place to track its drivers.
There is no reason that it would take length of time to locate a missing
taxi, with a murdered driver in its trunk. Shame on, Yellow Cab!

Name: Richard Cranium
Email: richium@hotmail.com
Occupation: Justaguy
Location: Sk

First of all my heart goes out to the family of this man, who escaped
his  country for what? This is prime reading for all you anti death
penalty  people. You will argue that two wrongs dont make a right. True
enough,  but for sure they won't make another wrong. Even as things
are,just  watch and see how light a sentence they do get, and when they
are  eligible to be released. How oxymoronic the phrase "Canadian
justice"  has become.

Name: Josephine
Occupation: Writer
Location: Edmonton

*sarcasm enclosed* Don't worry.. with the harsh punishmentthe Canadian
justice system metes out, they won't be in jail for more than six
months.  That's after they plead not guilty, waste tax payers money, get
a fancy  overpriced lawyer, and get it whittled down to time served and
the  aforementioned six months for aggravated assault. As you may have
guessed I have no faith in our judicial system. Not that giving the
culprits  a life sentence would bring this poor man back, but it would
help them  sleep easier at night, I'm quite sure.

Our cabbies should be equipped with the protective screens the cabs
have in New York--with no contact with the passengers whatsoever.

Name: Hal
Occupation: Retired
Location: Edmonton

Kurt, most cabs are owner operated plus they hire someone to drive the
other shifts. I used to drive a taxi, although it was a few years ago.
Bullet  proof shields as well as good tires, brakes etc. insure the
safety of  passengers as well as the operator. This issue arises
everytime there is  a horrific incident like this, I guess I don't
understand why the  owner/operators don't install shields, apparently
the cost is about  $625.00..cheap compared to a person's life.

I used to feel safe walking to the corner store at night. I no longer
feel  safe, so I drive to the store and pay attention to my surroundings
before I  get out of the car. The city doesn't have to pass a bylaw
making it illegal  for me to walk to the store at night, it just makes
sense to protect  myself. The same way bullet proof shields make sense.

Cabbies..intall the shields, protect yourself..you don't need to wait
for  legislation!

Name: Zara
Email: willy13@vianet.ca
Occupation: R.
Location: Ont.

The way I see it is that everytime I read a newspaper lately there's
another murder in edmonton(doesn't deserve a capital here).I'm shocked
to see another contributing member of our society has been killed by
low-lifes who prey on the innocent.This 2 degrees human being ,trying to
make a living for his family(who are now bereft of a provider),should
have  been looked at by manpower to allow him to put into practice the
learnings he already had .I'm disgusted with the way we treat our
immigrants! Most of them are law abiding and are made to work at menial
jobs to survive.Only in " OH CAnada"...And then we have the nerve to say
that the U.S is corrupt!Hah!

Name: maj
Occupation: edmonton
Location:

First off my heart goes out to the family of Hassan Yusuf and may god
help them cope through this horrific ordeal that they have endured.Susan
Davies I agree 100%with waht you had to say , cabbies don't know whats
going to happen to them when they pick up trash customers like those
four he picked up that night.They'll probably go to jail for a month and
be  back out but im sure they'll rot in the depths of hell where they
belong(emphasis on depths!)

Name: mary
Email: martgetgo@yahoo.ca
Occupation: caregiver
Location: edmonton

Yussuf drove me in his taxi & was the sweetest, most caring,
compassionate man. I also saw Crane & Baptiste, on the ETS, as  hostile,
angry, aggressive individuals, who showed no respect for those  around
them. That they were native, has nothing to do with the horrific  crime
they are charged with. There are many good, responsible native  people
in our country. Canada is a melting pot, made up of many  responsible,
hard-working, honest people - from many lands. It's what  makes me proud
to be a Canadian. I wonder how his attackers could  have such little
regard for human life. Yussuf was an "angel". I pray there  will be true
justice. I pray for his beautiful wife and children, for they are  the
innocents, who have been robbed of the dream for peace in our  beautiful
country. I pray that we may all learn from this tragedy & renew  our
faith in mankind. We must pull together as a community & rebuild our
faith in each other. Yussuf, sleep in peace - you were a treasure to
behold!

Name: annie
Occupation: medical
Location: edmonton

I was one of Yussuf's customers. Over our many conversations whilst
travelling about, he shared with me his great love for family, his faith
and  for Canada. He was so thankful to be in this country. He was such a
peaceful, gentle, and intelligent man. He often spoke of his children
and  wife, with such tenderness. He came to this country with all the
hope and  promise of finding a peaceful life. That he met with such a
horrific ending,  does not lessen the impact he made on the many lives
he had touched.  We, as Canadians, pride ourselves in protecting the
peace and rights of  all. Let this tragedy be a reminder to all of us,
that life is brief & precious;  that we are ALL vulnerable to crime. As
Canadians, we must stand up to  demand proper justice. Don't let
Yussuf's senseless loss of life be caught  up in this ridiculous
quagmire of our judicial system, where criminals have  more rights than
their victims. We all can make a difference... most  certainly, Yussuf
did. He'll be sadly missed

Name: jay
Email: jaygloabortions@hotmail.com
Occupation: bartender
Location: saskatchewan

Name: Don
Occupation: Public Servant
Location: Edmonton
It sounds like Yellow Cab has no system in place to track its drivers.
There is no reason that it would take length of time to locate a missing
taxi, with a murdered driver in its trunk. Shame on, Yellow Cab!

don if you even read the article you would have noticed the tracker was
disconnected.

Name: Melissa
Email: free2belissy@anywhere
Occupation:
Location: Sacramento from Edmonton

I feel just terrible for this mans family, because people have the gaul
to  make assine comments -like it was his fault for taking a cabbie
job?So is  that an invite to get assaulted?How many people willingly
would take that  job as a career choice?I feel so horrible for people
that come here to  make a better life for their families against so many
obstacles.I know all  about being an immigrant and I don't even have the
race barrier or  language barrier to deal with in the US.He was probably
a good man, a  great dad and his life was ended in a completely inhumane
fashion.I hope  the people who did this to him rot in jail or hell-
whichever works

Name: Steven Crowell
Email: bestpartition@verizon.net
Occupation: Partition Manufacturer
Location: Massachusetts

The public outcry is strong and the desire to enhance safety for cab
drivers from the risk of assault is also. Please do not let the need to
appear to have addressed the risk to overshadow the actual results that
take place with partition use. Unfortunately if partitions are mandated,
the  situation in a taxi will change from one where, without a
partition, it is like  two dogs in a cage, but, with a partition, it
becomes like shooting a fish  in a barrel. They "up the ante." Not only
will a gun become the only viable  weapon - but also - due to the
dangers of head impact with the partitions  hazardous edges and
protrusions they will exacerbate the severity and  frequency of injury
to occupants in collisions and sudden decceleration. It  should be noted
that none of the partitions currently in use have ever  prevented
anybody from shooting the driver through the side window nor  do any of
them comply with motor vehicle safety standards. I build  compliant
partitions for police cruisers.

Name: Steven Crowell
Email: bestpartition@verizon.net
Occupation: Partition Manufacturer
Location: Massachusetts

"Several hundred dollars were stolen from Yussuf."

It is severely inadvisable to announce such an amount of money reaped
in this situation. It too often results in an increase in the frequency
of  such attacks. Your lack of forsight is difficult to overlook.

"The source said Yussuf's attackers disabled the taxi's global
positioning  system, which uses satellites to track location."

Is the Journal trying to train taxi attackers?

Name: Ivan Sheichuk
Occupation:
Location: Moose Jaw, Sask.

We live in a twisted, demented world and things are getting worse. This
cab driver, along with so many others had no reason to die and every
reason to live. His passing is waste and should now help the rest of us
to  serve notice. WE NEED TOUGHER PENALTIES FOR SERIOUS  CRIMES!!
Unfortunately, the laws are made by governments elected by  the bleeding
heart brain dead of central Canada. More & more people  from there are
starting to see this and hopefully things are about to  change. We can't
have people murdering inocent people like this man  and then walking the
streets again in a short time, all the while, laughing  at our "justice"
system. PUNISHMENT and not REHABILITATION is the  key here! These people
were old enough to know better. Why did they do  it? ... Because they
could! No fear. We ALL need to take extra  precautions and be extra
vigilant now a days because of high crime rates.  This wasn't always the
case. We need to tell governments that we've had  enough so innocent
people won't die!

Name: Oliver
Occupation:
Location:

Hooray for section 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code!
If the alleged murderers are found guilty, their sentence will be
minimal  because they are aboriginal.

As the son of an immigrant, I don't owe anything to their past
misfortunes  and feel duped by the federal gov't allowing such leniency
to native  criminals.

In my eyes, we are equal as law-abiders and law-breakers.

Name: Paul Winkler
Email: paul.winkler@cogeco.ca
Occupation: govrernment worker
Location: ontario

We are all guilty of murdering this man. Routinely we deny access to
reasonable employment, to immigrants holding degrees at foreign
institutions. This is the height of stupidity, when demand for highly
qualified workers continues to grow, to crisis conditions in some
occupations.

Had Mr. Yussuf been permitted to work in his own field, he would not
have been forced into an inhumane separation from his family, and
subsequent murder.

Shame on us all! Shame on Canada's bigotry against foreign education!

Name: Cherie Ladouceur
Email: cherie_ladouceur@yahoo.com
Occupation: student
Location: Lac La Biche

when I read this article I felt compassion for this hard working man and
his family. Why don't people stop and think if it was them, or their
loved  one that was being murdered? Some people within our society seem
to  be cold blooded and uncaring. The justice system should make a stand
against violent crimes such as murder and bring back capital punishment
maybe then some people would think twice before taking another persons
life. It should not matter what their race is crime is crime.

Name: Richard Cranium
Email: richium@hotmail.com
Occupation: Justaguy
Location: Sk

Ivan, as long ago as I can remember, there have always been twisted
demented people. The big difference is the law used to deal with them
appropriately, and they went bye bye for a long time, so they could not
twist or dement anyone anymore. Today things are different. We want to
understand them, psycho-analyze them, fix them, re-integrate them,  make
them pillars of the community. What pure bovine excrement.  People of
Canada, we need to fix this sooner than later. I fear we are on  the
edge of enough fear and frustration in certain locations, that
Canadians will begin arming themselves to defend themselves and their
loved ones from these people. I know there are many bedrooms in  Canada
with a Louisville Slugger under the bed, mine included. I have  already
seen an increase in the number stun gun and pepper spray  violations
that normal every day Joe's are getting charged with.

Name: JD
Email: aboriginalandproud@inedmonton.ca
Occupation: government worker
Location: edmonton

Seems like it always boils down to the racies. Talk about ignorant
people, when you see a native person committing a crime seems there is
always negative outpore. There are more immigrant crimes happening in
the world that people do not judge and will take a blind eye if they are
that same color or race.

Some people need not to judge since there are many aboriginal people
that set the standards and try to eliminate racism in our community.
Jealously will not reslove anything but make you look stupid.

My condolences go out to this family but please do not give in to racism
and have hate for all aboriginal peoples since we are not all murders.
Thousand of years we fought to bring freedom for Canada and US, if it
wasn't for us, half you immigrants would not be allowed in the land of
the  Free.

Name: Taxed Out Tax Payer
Email: taxedout@canada.com
Occupation: Taxed Out Tax Payer
Location: Canada

Death penalty is the only resolve for this type of scum. Why have the
social scientists in this country taken over and now the public has no
protection against murderous scum?

There should be a question on the upcoming federal election: Do You
Support reinvoking the Death Penalty?

Corrections Canada is a joke. YOU WILL NEVER CORRECT A KILLER'S  MIND.
That is why Canada has many REPEAT KILLERS.

Judges have to be elected to be accountable to the community, anything
else reeks of political patronage.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Taxi driver died as a martyr for family, mourners told
Hundreds of cabbies spill onto sidewalk outside mosque to pay respects

Vernon Clement Jones
The Edmonton Journal

Saturday, April 16, 2005

CREDIT: Shaughn Butts, The Journal

A DAY OF SORROW AND ANGER: Slain Edmonton taxi driver Hassan  Yussuf's
son Sahid, 9, is comforted as he weeps in front of his father's  casket.

EDMONTON - Black, brown and white shoes sat in every corner of the
Al-Rashid Mosque Friday -- removed by those inside.

The colours were also those of the mourners for Hassan Yussuf, a taxi
driver killed while working to feed the wife and children he leaves
behind.

Yussuf died a martyr to that cause, the leader of the mosque told the
hundreds of mourners.

"We believe that he was killed in a state of grace," Imam Tamer Ali
said,  first in Arabic and then in English. "When a brother has died as
a martyr  for his family, we have to be proud of him."

Inside Edmonton's largest mosque, Yussuf's seven children sat close to
the green casket in which their father lay.

In 1992, the 41-year-old man left Somalia with two science degrees, but
would work as a cabbie in Canada to support his family.

While hundreds filled the mosque, hundreds more stood outside, unable
to get in. Collective chants of "Amen" hummed in the air as Yussuf's
four  daughters sat with their mother, Farha. She wept quietly.

His three boys sat across the aisle with the men of the mosque -- the
separation dictated by Islam custom.

As the ceremony of equal parts anger and sorrow took place, the first of
three people accused of killing Yussuf-- Karl Blair Strongman, 25, of
Ponoka -- made his first appearance in an Edmonton court Friday.

Strongman, along with Ronald Adrian Crane, 27, and Deidre Renee
Baptiste, 23, both of Ponoka, are accused of stabbing the 41-year-old
cab driver repeatedly before stuffing him into the trunk of his cab.

All three have been charged with first-degree murder, unlawful
confinement and robbery.

The car sat in a parking lot at the rear of a north-end liquor store for
five  days before police found Yussuf's body in the trunk on Tuesday
night.

Ali led the crowd in asking God to show Yussuf the mercy his killers
withheld.

"May Allah bless his soul and accept him and give patience to his
family," he said, before the start of the brief ceremony at 2:30 p.m.

By 2:40 p.m., pallbearers had carried the casket down the steps of the
mosque and into a waiting hearse.

A cortege of cabs followed the black car on its slow drive to the
cemetery.

"I came to show my respect to the family and to him -- nothing more and
nothing less," said Sukhi Tahli, one of the drivers lining the steps who
had failed to win a spot inside for the funeral of a man he'd never met.

Yussuf came to Edmonton nine months ago, leaving his family in Ottawa.
He'd hoped to make enough money to relocate his wife and children in
June.

"What can you say?" said Marek Masaryk, another taxi driver. "The guy
went through the worst nightmare you can imagine and then they killed
him. Personally, I think there should be more punishment for a crime."

Edmonton cabbies will take that message to City Hall on Sunday for a
protest rally .

But the company Yussuf acted as a subcontractor for -- Yellow Cab --
must also answer questions, said Abdi Mohamad, another taxi driver. He
cited reports that company officials waited five days before notifying
police about Yussuf's disappearance.

On Thursday, a city police spokesman said the cabbie might have
survived the attack had he received immediate medical attention.

Two representatives of the taxi firm sat with mourners Friday.

The funeral, in some small way, has comforted the grieving family, said
Yussuf's nephew.

"It really is great -- it gives me a good motivation inside," Mohamed
Hersi  said.

vjones@thejournal.canwest.com

(c) The Edmonton Journal 2005

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Somaliland.Net

http://www.somalilandnet.com/news/wnews/headline/13252.shtml

Yellow Cab Driver Killed in Edmonton Posted to the web 15:41 Apr 14
2005

EDMONTON - In a parking lot between a liquor store and a church in
north Edmonton, Hassan Mohammed Yussuf had been in the trunk of his
taxi for five days before police detectives found him dead.

Posted By M Ghalib Musa.

Less than 24 hours later, police arrested one man and are seeking two
other people in the slaying.

Karl Blair Strongman, 25, of Ponoka, commonly known as Scooter, was
arrested Wednesday night and charged with first-degree murder, unlawful
confinement and robbery.

Ronald Adrian Crane, 27, and Deidre Renee Baptiste, 23, both of
Hobbema, are wanted for first-degree murder, unlawful confinement and
robbery.

Baptiste is aboriginal, five-foot-six, 209 pounds, with brown eyes and
black hair. Crane is aboriginal, five-foot-nine, 260 pounds, with brown
eyes and black hair.

Baptiste was already wanted on an outstanding warrant issued Oct. 7,
2004, for failing to appear in court on a charge of aggravated assault.
Crane was scheduled to appear in Edmonton court April 21 on a charge  of
carrying a concealed weapon.

Yussuf was a father of seven and had been in Edmonton for less than a
year. Although he had two university degrees and aspirations of
becoming an electrician, the Somali immigrant drove a taxi to support
his  family.

It's unknown whether Yussuf was still alive when his Yellow cab was
abandoned.

Sometime around 1 a.m. Friday, a group of people flagged down his taxi
outside a Mac's convenience store on 107th Avenue, near 104th Street.
Yussuf took them north of Alberta Hospital, to a remote area near Horse
Hill school and the city's northeastern limits. That's likely where the
41-year-old was attacked, locked in the trunk and driven to a parking
lot  near 153rd Avenue and Castle Downs Road.

His killing has devastated his family and friends and frightened fellow
taxi  drivers. How, they wonder, could so many days pass without anyone
noticing something was wrong?

"The question is why didn't they (Yellow Cab) know about Hassan being
missing for days?" his widow, Farha Yussuf, asked after arriving in
Edmonton from Ottawa.

"Please, if possible, I want to know."

Sid Slach, Yellow Cab's director of operations, said the company is
co-operating with police investigators, but declined to make further
comment. Edmonton police released few details Wednesday about the
city's eighth homicide.

Spokesman Chris McLeod said homicide detectives, following up on a  tip,
discovered the body around 11 p.m. Tuesday. An autopsy is  scheduled for
this afternoon.

"Investigations have really just begun, so we've yet to determine
exactly  what motivated this," McLeod said. "This is certainly a very
violent crime  and something that's very unusual for the city."

McLeod said the tip was one of four police received Tuesday. Abdi Bakal,
president of Somaliland Cultural Association in Edmonton, said he heard
the tip came from a woman, who was one of four people Yussuf picked  up
in his taxi outside the convenience store.

Yussuf isn't the first Edmonton-area cabbie killed while on the job. In
the  most recent incident before Yussuf's death, a 13-year-old boy beat
a taxi  driver to death with a bat in 1998. The driver had been
delivering beer and  vodka to a home on the Samson reserve, 85
kilometres south of  Edmonton.

News Posted By M Ghalib Musa.
Email M Ghalib Musa : news@somalilandnet.com

 Welcome to Hiiraan Online, today is Thursday, April 21, 2005
http://www.somalicenter.com/2005/Apr/somali_news0414.htm

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Former Ottawa cabbie found stuffed in trunk of his car in Edmonton

Bill Mah
The Ottawa Citizen

Thursday, April 14, 2005

Hassan Yussuf, a Somali immigrant and a scientist by training, moved to
Edmonton about a year ago, but his wife and children stayed in Ottawa.
He went missing last week, and his body was found on Tuesday.
EDMONTON - A former Ottawa taxi driver, whose wife and seven children
live in Ottawa, was found dead in Edmonton late Tuesday night, stuffed
in  the trunk of his cab.

Hassan Yussuf, a Somali immigrant who holds two degrees in science  and
had the ability to speak five languages, had recently moved to  Edmonton
from Ottawa to find better work. "I don't know what I felt last  night
when I heard the news," said Mr. Yussuf's wife, Farha Yussuf, last
night.

The 40-year-old woman had just flown to Edmonton from Ottawa with four
of their seven children. "I'm so proud of him," she said. "He was so
caring."

Mr. Yussuf left Ottawa in order to take advantage of Edmonton's booming
economy, hoping to make a better life for his family, who planned to
follow him in June. He came to Canada in 1992, fleeing his native
war-torn  Somalia. Mrs. Yussuf followed her husband here a year later.
He had  hoped to find work in Canada's vast agricultural industry,
having studied  agricultural sciences in both Mogadishu and Russia.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Edmonton Journal
Driver had been missing for 5 days (more coverage)

Even though Mr. Yusuf holds two degrees in science and had the ability
to speak five languages, he could only find work as a part-time cab
driver  in Ottawa. He moved to Edmonton, and his family planned to
follow him  in June.

Late Tuesday night, Edmonton homicide detectives found Mr. Yusuf's  body
after following up on a tip about an abandoned taxi behind a liquor
store.

There, police discovered a man in his 40s stuffed inside the trunk of
the  Yellow Cab taxi. The cab had likely sat there since early Friday,
said  Edmonton police spokesman Chris McLeod.

Police said they will not positively identify the body until an autopsy
today.

"I think everyone should be worried," Mr. McLeod said. "This is
certainly  a very violent crime and something that's very unusual for
this city."

Mr. McLeod said the tip was one of four police received at about the
same time Tuesday evening.

"The tip really was that there was a cab in the north end of the city
that  had a man's body inside," said Mr. McLeod. "Investigations have
really  just begun so we've yet to determine exactly what motivated
this."

No arrests had been made as of yesterday. It is Edmonton's eighth
homicide of the year.

Edmonton cab drivers said yesterday they are shocked that the company
that owns the taxi did not report the driver missing until late Tuesday
evening. If preliminary police estimates are correct, Mr. Yusuf's body
could have been inside the trunk for five days before the company
notified  anyone that something was amiss.

Mr. Yusuf's body was found at around 11 p.m. on Tuesday.

Yellow Cab director of operations Sid Slach said the company is
co-operating with police in the investigation but declined to make
further  comment.

++++++++++++++++++

Source: Ottawa Citizen, Apr . 14, 2005

Driver had been missing for 5 days
Yellow Cab told twice that driver hadn't come home, cousin says

Renata D'Aliesio, Bill Mah and Vernon Clement Jones, withfiles from
Ryan Cormier, Keith Gerein and Duncan Thorne
The Edmonton Journal

April 14, 2005

EDMONTON - In a parking lot between a liquor store and a church in
north Edmonton, Hassan Mohammed Yussuf had been in the trunk of his
taxi for five days before police detectives found him dead.

Less than 24 hours later, police arrested one man and are seeking two
other people in the slaying.

Karl Blair Strongman, 25, of Ponoka, commonly known as Scooter, was
arrested Wednesday night and charged with first-degree murder, unlawful
confinement and robbery.

Ronald Adrian Crane, 27, and Deidre Renee Baptiste, 23, both of
Hobbema, are wanted for first-degree murder, unlawful confinement and
robbery.

Baptiste is aboriginal, five-foot-six, 209 pounds, with brown eyes and
black hair. Crane is aboriginal, five-foot-nine, 260 pounds, with brown
eyes and black hair.

Baptiste was already wanted on an outstanding warrant issued Oct. 7,
2004, for failing to appear in court on a charge of aggravated assault.
Crane was scheduled to appear in Edmonton court April 21 on a charge  of
carrying a concealed weapon.

Yussuf was a father of seven and had been in Edmonton for less than a
year. Although he had two university degrees and aspirations of
becoming an electrician, the Somali immigrant drove a taxi to support
his  family.

It's unknown whether Yussuf was still alive when his Yellow cab was
abandoned.

Sometime around 1 a.m. Friday, a group of people flagged down his taxi
outside a Mac's convenience store on 107th Avenue, near 104th Street.
Yussuf took them north of Alberta Hospital, to a remote area near Horse
Hill school and the city's northeastern limits. That's likely where the
41-year-old was attacked, locked in the trunk and driven to a parking
lot  near 153rd Avenue and Castle Downs Road.

His killing has devastated his family and friends and frightened fellow
taxi  drivers. How, they wonder, could so many days pass without anyone
noticing something was wrong?

"The question is why didn't they (Yellow Cab) know about Hassan being
missing for days?" his widow, Farha Yussuf, asked after arriving in
Edmonton from Ottawa.

"Please, if possible, I want to know."

Sid Slach, Yellow Cab's director of operations, said the company is
co-operating with police investigators, but declined to make further
comment. Edmonton police released few details Wednesday about the
city's eighth homicide.

Spokesman Chris McLeod said homicide detectives, following up on a  tip,
discovered the body around 11 p.m. Tuesday. An autopsy is  scheduled for
this afternoon.

"Investigations have really just begun, so we've yet to determine
exactly  what motivated this," McLeod said. "This is certainly a very
violent crime  and something that's very unusual for the city."

McLeod said the tip was one of four police received Tuesday. Abdi Bakal,
president of Somaliland Cultural Association in Edmonton, said he heard
the tip came from a woman, who was one of four people Yussuf picked  up
in his taxi outside the convenience store.

Yussuf isn't the first Edmonton-area cabbie killed while on the job. In
the  most recent incident before Yussuf's death, a 13-year-old boy beat
a taxi  driver to death with a bat in 1998. The driver had been
delivering beer and  vodka to a home on the Samson reserve, 85
kilometres south of  Edmonton.

Driver had been missing for 5 days

"It's not only this incident, but, in general, driving a cab is getting
dangerous in Edmonton," said driver Girma Tamre, adding that a  customer
recently punched him in the nose.

"Drivers have been stabbed and abused. Ninety-nine per cent of people in
Edmonton are nice people, but there are a few bad apples."

Rudy Berghuys, chairman of the Edmonton Taxi Cab Commission, said
violence against cabbies has long been a concern. He said the industry
may want to reconsider legislation making certain security devices
mandatory in all taxis.

"At our meetings, we've talked about safety shields, hidden microphone
switches, in-car cameras, GPS systems and so on," Berghuys said. "All
of those things are available to the cab drivers if they wish to use
them.  The question is, is it now time to mandate the use of some of
that  equipment?"

Many Edmonton taxis have some of those features installed. Yellow Cab,
for example, has GPS systems and panic buttons in all its cabs.

Safety shields, which provide a barrier between the back and front
seats,  are not widely used in Edmonton taxis. Berghuys said they have
been  tried in the past but the industry decided against using them for
a variety  of reasons, including passenger comfort.

In light of the death, the commission decided Wednesday to have its
safety committee re-examine the issue of driver security. A report is
expected within the next month or two.

Nearly 30 drivers attended the meeting, where a minute of silence was
observed for Yussuf. Others streamed by the parking lot where his No.
339 taxi was found. His cousin, also a taxi driver, was one of them.

"I don't understand why Yellow Cab didn't do anything to help Hassan,"
said Hakim, who asked that his last name not be used.

"I really feel angry towards Yellow Cab because (Hassan's) roommate
called Yellow Cab on Friday and Saturday to tell them he had not come
home and they never did anything about it.

"They could have at least asked other cabbies to look out for him. If
they  had done something sooner maybe he could have been saved."

While Yellow Cab drivers must log on and off a computerized dispatch
system, some drivers said management keeps only loose tabs on their
whereabouts because they are essentially self-employed. Drivers work
when they want and decide on the length of their shifts.

"You have to sign off, but if you don't, they don't bother to ask you,"
one  driver said.

Moe Chebli used to work for Yellow Cab before he and more than 100
other drivers started a new co-operative company, Capital Cab, last
year.

Chebli said taxi drivers plan to gather at City Hall today to call for
improved security measures. He said cabbies across the city are
anxiously waiting to learn what happened to Yussuf and whether his
killing could have been prevented.

"We want to know if he was still alive -- could something have been
done," Chebli asked.

"Could he have been banging on the trunk? Could somebody have heard
him? Could he have been saved?

rd'aliesio@thejournal.canwest.com

vjones@thejournal.canwest.com

bmah@thejournal.canwest.com

Obituary of Hassan Mohammed Yussuf.

(c) The Edmonton Journal 2005

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Edmonton Sun
(Edmonton, Alberta)
April 27, 2005

Labour group backs shields for city cabbies

DAN PALMER, EDMONTON SUN

The Alberta Federation of Labour is backing calls by some
cabbies to put safety shields in taxis after a driver was slain
earlier this month. "We support the cab drivers who are calling
for it," AFL policy analysis director Jason Foster said yesterday.

"The taxi commission should be looking at making shields
mandatory."

Many drivers started calling for mandatory shields after cabbie
Hassan Mohamud Yussuf, 41, was found dead in the trunk of a
cab.

Foster said a cab driver will speak about the workplace death
tomorrow evening in the Kids in the Hall Bistro at City Hall.

Tomorrow's event is part of an international day of mourning to
recognize killed and injured workers.

Bill Handous of Capital Taxi, who will attend the AFL event, said
the shields between passengers and drivers in the cabs need to
be mandatory to give cabbies a better level of safety.

"A man lost his life," said Handous.

"When are we going to make this change?"

Handous would also like to see it made mandatory to maintain a
level playing field among cab companies.

"It would be equal business practices," said Handous.

He also suggested the roughly $500 to $1,000 cost per shield
should be covered by the cab companies, drivers and grants
from city hall.

"I would certainly be in favour of exploring that," said Ward 2
Coun. Kim Krushell.

The issue is up for discussion at the Edmonton Taxi
Commission's meeting on May 11.

Karl Strongman, 25, Ronald Adrian Crane, 27, and Deidre
Renee Baptiste, 23, have been charged with first-degree murder
in Yussuf's death.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Ottawa Sun
(Ottawa, Ontario)
June 16, 2005

Community comes to aid of slain cabbie's kin

By MEGAN GILLIS, Ottawa Sun

People who don't even know them have rallied around a
murdered cabbie's widow and seven children.

Mohamed Mohamud, producer of the Voice of Somalia radio
show, never met Hassan Mohamud Yussaf in life but helped to
raise thousands to aid his grieving family.

A cheque will be given to Yussaf's wife, Farhia, today at the
Ottawa offices of the charity Human Concern International.

"It was amazing," Mohamud said of the support. "I wasn't
expecting this. It was from everyone, different backgrounds, all
over Ottawa.

"We collected money from friends and the whole community --
everybody. Bus drivers, all the taxi cabs, the mosque. Most of
the people never saw (the family), they just donated to the
account."

Yussaf, 41, was found in the trunk of his Edmonton taxi in April.
Three people have been charged in what police believe was a
robbery gone wrong.

Yussaf had left Ottawa to find work, expecting his family to join
him. They went to Edmonton for his funeral and have since
returned to Ottawa, where they've lived since fleeing Somalia in
1992.

Mohamud said he recently met one of the cabbie's kids for the
first time.

At a birthday party at Brittania Beach, he saw a little girl of about
four playing. She told him her name, Iman. It means blessing.

Mohamud asked the little girl who gave her such a beautiful
name. Her daddy, she replied. And where's her daddy?

"She said, 'My daddy died, someone killed him'," Mohamud said.

megan.gillis@ott.sunpub.com

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Edmonton Journal
(Edmonton, Alberta)
January 16, 2007

Cab driver alive in trunk, court told

Somali refugee working extra shifts to bring his family to
Edmonton

Jim Farrell, edmontonjournal.com
Published: Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Kicking and hammering noises from the back of a highjacked
cab signalled trouble. Stabbed numerous times, the cab driver in
the trunk was still alive.

"Let's go finish this," Ronald (Junior) Crane told Karl (Scooter)
Strongman. Crane was in the front passenger seat, Strongman
was in the back, alongside Deidre Baptiste. Crane instructed the
terrified woman at the wheel to stop the car and he and
Strongman went outside and opened the trunk.

Minutes later, they climbed back inside. The cab pulled away.
The sounds from the trunk had ceased. Hassan Mohamud
Yussuf was now dead.

That story was told to an Edmonton jury today by Cathy Fiddler,
the woman who was behind the wheel.

On Monday, the Crown had described Fiddler as an innocent
bystander in the April 8, 2005, killing of Yussuf. Fiddler, a
longtime drug addict with a criminal record, is now the Crown's
chief witness in the first degree murder trial of Crane, Strongman
and fellow cab passenger Deidre Baptiste.

The trio are also charged with robbery and illegal confinement in
a crime whose motivation was the robbery of Yussuf, a Somali
refugee who had been working long hours to accumulate enough
money to move his wife and seven children from Ottawa to
Edmonton.

Fiddler has been charged with no crime, having told police
officers that she never realized what her friends intended to do
when they hailed Yussuf's cab outside an inner-city Mac's Milk
Store. Police first learned of the crime when Fiddler told them
about it, four days after the slaying of Yussuf. Until then she'd
been afraid to do anything, fearing that her drinking, drug-taking
friends might kill her.

The events leading to Yussuf's slaying began on the night of
April 7 when Crane, Baptiste and Strongman dropped by
Fiddler's apartment, she testified. Only she and her boyfriend
were home at the time and he was asleep on the couch. Fiddler's
six children weren't with her. They'd been taken from her and put
in the care of her father because of the crack cocaine habit she'd
developed after she gave birth to her last child, shortly after she
and her husband split up in 2003.

"I went into a state of depression," she told the jury.

To get her kids back Fiddler had taken a total of five substance
abuse programs and got an apartment of her own, as Children's
Services had directed. The arrival of her three friends threatened
to drag her down once more.

For hours, the four partied. Fiddler told the jury she only drank
beer while her friends smoked crystal meth (speed) as well as
drank. As dawn broke, Baptiste told Fiddler to accompany her
and her friends for a walk to a nearby Mac's Milk to look for a
cab. Because of the notorious reputation of Fiddler's apartment
building, cabs wouldn't come there, Fiddler told the jury.

The first cab driver that spotted Fiddler and her three native
friends at the Mac's Milk took one look and drove off. The
second cab was Yussuf's.

Baptiste began giving the cab driver directions, sending him to
the northeast fringe of the city. The drive ended on a side road,
near Evergreen Mobile Home Park.

"I  heard Scooter say 'stop the cab - I have to puke,'" Fiddler
testified.

The cab stopped and Strongman got out, followed by Crane.
Crane then circled around the cab and pulled open the driver's
door.

"I remember him (Yussuf) saying 'What's going on.' That's when
I saw the big blade and the stabbing motion," Fiddler testified.

Then Baptiste leaped out of the cab. In her hand was another
knife.

"I saw a stabbing motion," Fiddler said. "It was a smaller blade. I
went into shock."

Wounded and terrified, Yussuf was yelling something but Fiddler
couldn't make out the words. Baptiste grabbed one of his arms,
Crane grabbed the other arm and they hauled him out of the taxi.

"After a time period someone started yelling to me to open the
trunk," Fiddler told the jury. "I had to do it. If they were capable of
doing that to the cab driver, they were capable of anything."

On the way back to the city - after the trio had stopped the cab
to stop the wounded cab driver's thrashing - Baptiste split up
the money she'd taken off their victim. It amounted to $800.
Fiddler didn't refuse when she was given $100 of that total. As
instructed, she pulled into a mini mall in north Edmonton, parked
the cab and the four people walked away.

The trial continues Wednesday.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Edmonton Journal
(Edmonton, Alberta)
February 6, 2007

Witnesses in cabbie murder case slammed

Defence lawyers say they turned Crown evidence to save
themselves

Jim Farrell
Published: Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Lawyers representing three people accused of murdering an
Edmonton cab driver in 2005 wound up their defence today with
an attack on the credibility of the Crown's two key witnesses.

The testimony of Cathy Fiddler and Corinne Saddleback are
crucial in the first degree murder trial of Karl Strongman, Deidre
Baptiste and Ronald Crane.

Fiddler, a longtime crack cocaine addict and repeat criminal
offender, was with the defendants when 41-year-old Hassan
Yussuf was stabbed and stuffed into the trunk of his cab.

Strongman and Crane allegedly confessed their crime to
Saddleback, who also has a lengthy criminal record.

In their closing arguments, Baptiste's lawyer Peter Royal and
Crane's lawyer Mike Danyluik argued that neither witness should
be believed. If they can't be believed the jury must find all three
defendants not guilty, the lawyers said.

Fiddler in particular is suspect because she was likely the prime
architect of the killing, Royal said. She only went to police
because it served her interests to become their chief informant
and thereby escape charges.

An indicator of Fiddler's self-interest was the fact she called
Crimestoppers even before she called police so she could collect
a reward for the capture of Yussuf's killers, Royal said.

Others examples of Fiddler's likely complicity include evidence
seized by police said Royal. A bag containing some of the
mildly-narcotic leaf chewed by Yussuf was found in her
apartment along with a knife used in the killing. Police also found
clothing stained with Yussuf's blood.

That clothing included a pair of jeans that Fiddler claimed had
been worn by Baptiste during the commission of the crime and
yet a cab driver has testified Baptiste wore a pair of red track
pants when he picked up the defendants and Fiddler following
the killing. Fiddler wore jeans, that cab driver said.

Surveillance video captured by a camera at a Husky gas station
in the hours preceding the killing also shows Baptiste wearing
red track pants with a white strip down the side, Royal told the
jury.

"She really is a piece of work. You have to be very, very careful
of Miss Fiddler....She is a very, very dangerous person - a
dangerous witness, a person used to making false accusations
against other people."

Royal then went on to slam the credibility of Saddleback, a
woman who expressed nothing but scorn for the three
defendants during her testimony.

During cross examination, Royal got Saddleback to admit that
Batiste "would never be on her Christmas Card list."

A soon as Saddleback agreed Royal produced a Christmas card
sent that Saddleback sent to Baptiste only two months ago.

Justice Eric Macklin of Court of Queen's Bench will give his
directions to the jury Wednesday.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Edmonton Journal
(Edmonton, Alberta)
February 9, 2007

Trio guilty in cabbie's killing

Hassan Yussuf was repeatedly stabbed and stuffed into his taxi's
trunk

Jim Farrell, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Friday, February 09, 2007

EDMONTON - Clutching her three-year-old son on her lap, the
widow of a murdered cab driver watched a jury convict the three
killers Thursday evening, then spoke about her frustrations with
the justice system that will hold them accountable.

"I expected more," Farhia Ali said through an interpreter, after a
jury found Ronald Crane and his sister Deidre Baptiste guilty of
second-degree murder for killing Ali's husband, taxi driver
Hassan Yussuf.

"They killed my husband," Ali said. "They put him in the trunk to
suffer and die."

A third defendant, Karl Strongman, was found guilty of
manslaughter, which can carry a sentence ranging from house
arrest to life in prison. Second-degree murder carries an
automatic life sentence, and Crane and Baptiste will have to
spend at least 10 years in prison before they are eligible for
parole.

Asked by Justice Eric Macklin of Court of Queen's Bench to
recommend an appropriate time before parole eligibility, most
jurors recommended Crane and Baptiste remain locked up for 15
to 18 years. But Yussuf's widow said the only suitable sentence
would see her husband's killers sent to prison for the rest of their
lives.

"They must never be permitted to hurt another person," said Ali,
who sat in court through much of the trial.

On April 8, 2005, Yussuf picked up the three killers and their
friend, Cathy Fiddler. He was directed to drive them to the
outskirts of the city, where they had him stop the car. Yussuf, 41,
was stabbed by Baptiste and Crane and robbed, then stuffed into
the trunk of his car. As Fiddler drove the cab back into the city,
Crane tore out its meter and GPS navigation system so it could
not be tracked.

Yussuf kept screaming and banging in a desperate attempt to
escape from the trunk, so Crane told Fiddler to stop the car and
open the trunk. He and Strongman got out and went back to the
open trunk. When they got back into the car the trunk was closed
and Yussuf made no more noise.

A coroner counted seven stab wounds on the victim's body but
said only one -- a knife wound from his back into his left lung --
was potentially fatal.

Fiddler alerted police four days after the killing and claimed she
played no role in the crime. She was the Crown's main witness
against the other three, who were also found guilty Thursday of
robbery and illegal confinement.

Lorinda Strongman, Karl's mother, and Debbie Crane, mother of
Ronald and Deidre, hunched forward and wept.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Cabbie's widow seeks new life in Edmonton
Somali refugee Farhia Ali moved her seven children here to be close to her murdered husband's grave

Jim Farrell, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Monday, February 12, 2007

EDMONTON -- With seven children, a tenuous grasp of English and virtually no money, Somali refugee Farhia Ali became a widow in April 2005, when her husband, Edmonton cab driver Hassan Yussuf, was murdered.

She coped.

Ali was living in Ottawa at the time with six of her seven children. Her eldest child -- a daughter -- was attending college in Calgary. Her husband was a Muslim and was buried quickly in an Edmonton cemetery, as the religion prescribes.

Farhia Ali has moved to Edmonton with her seven children to rebuild her life after her husband, taxicab driver Hassan Yussuf, was murdered.View Larger Image View Larger Image

Two of Yussuf's killers -- Ronald Crane and Deidre Baptiste -- were found guilty of second-degree murder on Thursday. Karl Strongman was found guilty of manslaughter.

A year ago, Ali moved her children here from Ottawa so they could pay regular visits to Yussuf's grave in the north-side Muslim cemetery.

Ali and her six youngest children now live in a tidy two-bedroom rent-assisted apartment on the north side.

Every day, eldest son Abdi, 18, rises early and rides a bus for two hours to get to his job on the west side of the city so he can help support his family.

Ali's eldest child, 22-year-old Iphra, recently gave birth to her first child, making Ali a grandmother at 41.

Iphra nevertheless finds time to work to help support her mother and her brothers and sister while her mother attends Norquest College to prepare to enter the workforce.

Like their father, Ali and the children believe in bettering themselves.

"I want to go to Grant MacEwan College in September to study business," Abdi said Sunday. "My older sister is working now but she will study to be a nurse."

Where others might see impossible odds, the family sees opportunity, a trait common to many refugees who come to Canada.

The family's struggle began in 1990, when Yussuf was in Russia completing a university degree in agriculture.

His young wife was home in Mogadishu, taking care of their first two children. As Somalia's pro-Soviet government toppled, the country began its descent into chaos.

Instead of returning to Somalia, Yussuf came to Canada and began making plans to get his wife and children out of Somalia.

"I had two children when I left Somalia in 1991," Ali said. "We lived in a refugee camp in Nairobi, Kenya. After two years, we were able to join my husband in Ottawa."

Yussuf found work in Ottawa but money was still tight. In 2001, he moved to Calgary and took a job as a cab driver. At various times he moved back and forth between Ottawa and Calgary. In 2004, with the Alberta economy booming, he came to Edmonton.

Driving cab seven days a week, from 5 or 6 p.m. to 5 or 6 a.m., he began making plans for the family to join him. By March 2005, he had enough money to move them west.

"He called me at the beginning of March and told me he would send us some tickets to come out right away," Ali said. "I told him no, I will wait until June."

Her children would be finished their school year by then.

Ali last spoke to her husband on the evening of Thursday, April 7, 2005. He told her he was about to send her the travel money.

For the next four days she heard nothing from him, which was unusual. He normally phoned every day.

By Tuesday evening, she was feeling desperate. At 1 a.m. Wednesday, the phone rang, her niece from Calgary calling, in tears.

Ali's first thought was for her eldest daughter, who lived in Calgary.

"Did Iphra die?" Ali asked.

"No."

"Did Hassan die," Ali asked.

"Who told you?" her niece answered.

Three young people, drunk on cheap beer and stoned on crystal meth, had stabbed Yussuf and stuffed him in the trunk of his taxi, then drove the cab back into Edmonton.

His body was found four days later, when the fourth person in the cab went to police.

Yussuf had been killed for the $800 he carried in his wallet. Hidden in the trunk was another $7,500 in cash, money that Yussuf planned to send to Ali so his family could move.

The killers never found that money and it was eventually turned over to Yussuf's family.

Relatives sent Ali a plane ticket and the day after she learned her husband was dead, she found herself in Edmonton, joined by relatives from Calgary.

She was in a state of shock.

A year later, she did as Yussuf had wished and moved her family west.

Next September, as Abdi and Iphra return to college, Ali's younger children will begin studies at Edmonton's new Muslim school.

jfarrell@thejournal.canwest.com
© The Edmonton Journal 2007

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Edmonton Journal
(Edmonton, Alberta)
June 2, 2007

12 years for killing cabbie

Father stabbed to death despite his pleas for mercy

Florence Loyie, The Edmonton Journal
Published:Â Saturday, June 02, 2007

EDMONTON - The third person convicted in the slaying of 
Edmonton cab driver Hassan Yussuf was sentenced to 12 years 
in prison Friday for his role in the brutal killing.

Karl Strongman, 27, was found guilty by a jury on Feb. 8 of 
manslaughter, robbery and unlawful confinement in Yussuf's 
death.

Two other co-accused, Ronald Crane, 29, and his sister, Deidre 
Baptiste, 25, were convicted of second-degree murder, robbery 
and unlawful confinement. They were sentenced on March 30 to 
life imprisonment without possibility of parole for nearly 20 years.

The Crown had asked that Strongman be given a jail term of 15 
to 18 years for his role in the killing, while the defence called for 
a six-year sentence with two-for-one credit for the time 
Strongman has served in the Remand Centre.

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