Houdini's death may not have been caused by a drug deal gone wrong after all.
Cjay Hobbs, who was charged with three counts of first-degree murder including Houdini's, was allegedly playing part in an "orchestrated assassination," the Toronto Star reports.
The trial has been underway for three weeks and evidence provided by prosecutor Arian Khader showed that Hobbs rented a blue Volkswagen Tiguan with a fake ID on May 1, 2020, in order to have "no ties leading back to him." On May 26, Hobbs took the car to Blue Jays Way, which was close to where Houdini had been staying in an Airbnb.
Footage caught on camera showed that the Tiguan had been driving around the area for approximately 90 minutes and found Houdini walking down the street around 4 p.m. The car then pulled a U-turn "in a deliberate way so his passenger has line of sight" followed by someone firing shots at Houdini and striking him three times.
Though the video shows the murder happening, Khader claims Hobbs wasn't the actual shooter. Despite that, he said Hobbs should still be found guilty of first-degree murder for his involvement.
"The shooter needed Hobbs [...] he was essential," Khader said according to the Toronto Star.
He replayed the video to the jury and the shooter can be seen firing at Houdini which led to Houdini's team to start firing back.
Houdini then began to run "for his life" and Hobbs followed in the car. Once the shooter returned to the car, Hobbs left the scene in a hurry.
Hobbs' defence lawyer Leora Shamesh said in her closing statement that he had rented the car to avoid cops stopping him while he sold drugs. She also questioned why Hobbs would use a fake I.D. with his own photo attached if his intent was to assassinate Houdini.
She added that Hobbs "had a criminal record and testified that he used rental cars all the time so as to ensure he was not stopped by the police while trafficking drugs."
Shamesh then told the jury that Hobbs' had been trying to sell cocaine with his partner Jack Loor, who had fired his gun in an attempt to protect himself when he thought they were being robbed. Loor was killed in 2022 and thus can not confirm the story.
Deliberations from the jury were set to begin today.
