April 16, 2005
Even as mourners crowded Edmonton's Al-Rashid Mosque Friday for the funeral of cabbie Hassan Yusuf, his friends in Ottawa's Somali community were relieved to hear that two more people have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death.
Mr. Yusuf, 41, a former Ottawa cabbie, was found stabbed, robbed and stuffed in the trunk of his taxi in Edmonton earlier this week. The car sat in a parking lot at the rear of a liquor store for five days before police found it Tuesday night. He leaves behind a wife and seven children.
Even as the funeral was underway, the first of three accused of killing Mr. Yusuf -- Karl Blair Strongman, 25, of Ponoka, Alta. -- made his first appearance in an Edmonton court. Two others for whom warrants had been issued, Ronald Adrian Crane, 27, and Deidre Renee Baptiste, 23, both from Hobbema, turned themselves into Edmonton police. All three face charges of unlawful confinement and robbery.
While they were placed in custody, hundreds of people, including numerous cab drivers, turned out to honour Mr. Yusuf's memory. "We believe that he was killed in a state of grace," Imam Tamer Ali told the crowd. "When a brother has died as a martyr for his family, we have to be proud of him."
Mr. Yusuf's children sat silently in the auditorium, close to the green casket containing their father. Collective chants of "Amen" hummed over the heads of the children as his four girls sat with their mother, Farhia. His three boys were across the aisle with the men of the mosque.
In Ottawa, meanwhile, outside the prayer room near South Keys that Mr. Yusuf used to attend, his cousin and other friends spoke about the tragic end to Mr. Yusuf's life, and how it could have been avoided. "It could have been prevented if he had been allowed to work professionally. But the doors were closed and he had to resort to driving a taxi," said one man.
Mr. Yusuf had two degrees from schools in Mogadishu and Russia and spoke several languages, but had trouble finding work in Ottawa in his field of agricultural science. He worked various jobs since immigrating in the early 1990s, including the assembly line at JDS. He upgraded his skills by taking courses at Algonquin College, but still couldn't land a permanent job. He moved to Edmonton about a year ago in hopes of establishing a career there, and was driving a taxi to make ends meet. He family was preparing to join him in Edmonton.
At the Edmonton mosque, Mr. Ali led the crowd in asking God to show Yusuf the mercy his killers withheld. "May Allah bless his soul and accept him, and give patience to his family," he said.
Not everybody was so forgiving. "The guy went through the worst nightmare you can imagine and then they killed him," said Barrel Taxi driver Marek. "Personally, I think there should be more punishment for a crime."
But Yellow Cab -- the company that employed Mr. Yusuf -- has to explain why it waited five days before notifying police about his disappearance, said Albi Mohamad, another taxi driver. "We have to know that this terrible thing won't happen again," he said. "The company has to look out for its drivers and that is a fact. Why didn't they do that for Hassan?"
Mr. Yusuf sacrificed himself to the job of feeding his family, another said. "I came to show my respect to the family and to him," said Sukhi Tahli.
It was a sentiment echoed by friends and relatives in Ottawa. His cousin, Saiid Shire, said family that was central in Mr. Yusuf's life. "He was a loving, loving father."
Whenever Mr. Yusuf got home after his children were asleep, he would go into each of their rooms and kiss them good night. Mr. Shire described his cousin as a caring, generous man who always made others laugh and had a positive outlook. If ever there was a conflict, Mr. Yusuf would intervene, said Mr. Shire. "In a word, he was a peacemaker."
Leaders of the Somali community are setting up a trust fund and will soon make the details public. Mrs. Yusuf will need financial help for the children, who range in age from one to 20, they said.
Staff at the Somali Centre for Family Services are in contact with Mrs. Yusuf to see how they can help.