Five minutes of unbearable wailing and screaming. A bloodcurdling 911 call was presented to the jury Monday in the trial of Hosea Amorus Puhya, accused of murdering his ex-wife. A murder committed while the victim was putting her children in the car.
What there is to know
- Hosea Amorus Puhya is charged with the first degree murder of his ex-wife.
- Gisèle Itale Betondi was putting her children in the car when she was stabbed.
- Before dying, the victim confided to a neighbor that the attacker was her husband.
Saly Bessem Ba Maah left for a few seconds to get a glass of water. A few fatal seconds. When she returned, her friend Gisèle Itale Betondi was being stabbed by a hooded man. Her ex-husband released from prison, according to the Crown. A moving scene told to the jury Monday at the Montreal courthouse.
The day before the murder, Gisèle Itale Betondi had confided to her neighbor and fellow Cameroonian that she had seen her ex-husband, Hosea Amorus Puhya, at the bus stop, near their building in the LaSalle district. A terrifying sight, since the man had been in prison for several months.
In the past, Hosea Amorus Puhya had threatened to kill Gisèle Itale Betondi, reports the neighbor. “ [Il lui avait dit] : I’m going to find you and I’m going to kill you,” says Saly Bessem Ba Maah. The victim had already told him that she had moved to LaSalle after being “abused” by the accused. He therefore did not know his new address.
The next morning, Saly Bessem Ba Maah waits for her friend’s call. She had offered to take care of his children. But Gisèle Itale Betondi finally refuses the offer and goes to the parking lot alone. “What are you doing outside?” It’s not safe,” the neighbor says to her friend when she sees him. “I don’t want to let him control my life. I will call the police if I see him,” replied the victim.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Saly Bessem Ba Maah, center, saw the murder of her friend.
Gisèle Itale Betondi places her children in the car when her friend returns to her house – nearby – to drink water. She receives a call at the same time. A few seconds later, a scream rang out. “I saw a man dressed in black on black stabbing Gisèle. She was struggling. I screamed,” testifies the neighbor, miming the stabbings.
“The man fled, but returned to stab her again. I saw a big knife. He ran away,” she continues, sobbing.
But Gisèle Itale Betondi was not dead. Not yet. She got up and walked over to her friend. She then uttered crucial words in her native language, Pidgin: “He is my husband. Call 911.” The victim then collapsed in the arms of her friend who immediately called for help.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE BETONDI FAMILY
Gisèle Itale Betondi
While the 911 call was listened to at the trial, the victim’s relatives and the witness sobbed, while the accused remained unmoved.
” My friend ! My friend ! », yelled the neighbor. After four minutes of screaming, the 911 employee finally asked the woman to calm down and focus on the situation. “It’s her husband!” He stabbed her! “, the woman screamed.
The Crown presented the jury with surveillance videos from the Montreal metro, the day before the murder. A man who resembles the accused can be seen leaving Angrignon station around 7:50 p.m.
According to the prosecution’s theory, Hosea Amorus Puhya had called the victim just four days before the murder. “He blamed her for sleeping with another man. He told her that the next time he sees her, he is going to kill her. We are going to hear this conversation,” stressed Mr.e Jade Coderre last week in her introductory presentation.
Hosea Amorus Puhya had difficulty accepting his breakup with the victim in January 2022, according to the Crown, and had threatened him: “I’m going to kill you, I’m going to put a knife in your stomach and you’re going to die. »
Me Antonio Cabral defends the accused. The trial continues Tuesday before Judge Catherine Perreault.