Guyanese born Mohamed Kamaludeen is to be arraigned in Reno, Nevada, USA this week for the August 2007 murder of University of Nevada Professor Judy Calder.
According to Canwest News Service, Kamaludeen, 50, was flown to Reno in January from Mexico as part of an extradition deal with Mexican authorities.
The former Canadian resident had fled Canada 15 years ago after he was suspected of arranging Toronto’s infamous “pinky-ring murder” in 1993.
He will be arraigned this week on a first-degree murder charge in the August 2007 stabbing death of Calder, a 64-year-old expert in criminal violence, whom prosecutors suspect was killed by the former Canadian resident over a failed business deal, the report said.
The report said Nevada prosecutor Bruce Hahn was very eager to learn more about the pinky-ring murder because there “may be a critical connection” with the US killing.
The pinky-ring murder, the report said, was “a crime that shocked even homicide-hardened Toronto: a 62-year-old, Hungarian-born grandfather, who had survived the Holocaust and owned a cab company in the city’s downtown, was stabbed to death at his taxi garage in September 1993.” Bernard Bimbi was killed over a $30,000 diamond ring he wore on a pinky finger that was nearly hacked off by his assailant to secure the prize.
The article went on to say that Bimbi’s murder had led to a landmark court case that saw for the first time in Canada a young offender face a trial by jury. “But Bimbi’s 17-year-old killer was controversially sentenced to just three years for his role in the crime, which investigators claimed had been orchestrated by an older, shadowy figure – [the then] 35-year-old Mohamed Kamaludeen – who had allegedly manipulated the youth, grabbed the ring and fled the country,” the article said.
Notably, as in the Toronto case, Kamaludeen is accused of “hiring or inducing” another man – illegal Filipino immigrant Carlos Filomeno – to carry out the fatal attack on Calder, the report said.
