Quebec man headed to prison after pleading guilty to 2 Saskatoon shootings

A Quebec man with a history of violence in Saskatoon — including shooting a murder witness — is going to prison.

Muhidiin Ahmed-Farrah pleaded guilty Monday in Saskatoon provincial court to two separate shootings. Judge Bruce Bauer accepted a joint submission from prosecutor Carla Dewar and defence lawyer Nicholas Stooshinoff for a global sentence of 14 years.

The 39-year-old admitted to getting into a shootout with a man named Ralph Belleville on Oct. 15, 2021, in front of Vincent Massey School which prompted a lockdown and evacuation of the school.

The two were known to each other.

Court heard that Ahmed-Farrah was shown on surveillance video arriving at a pharmacy in a strip mall near the school. He approached Belleville and the men were shown wrestling for a gun in Ahmed-Farrah’s hand. They disengage and both are seen exchanging shots before they both take off in different directions.

In an agreed statement of facts, witnesses said both suspects had firearms and both fired on each other. But police only recovered one handgun. Belleville pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited firearm and was sentenced to 25 months behind bars.

Thieves used crowbars to break open display cases. (Saskatoon Police Service)

Ahmed-Farrah first came onto Saskatoon police’s radar in February 2014 after a brazen daylight robbery of a downtown jewellery store.

The heist happened over the noon hour. Ahmed-Farrah was one of four disguised men who burst into the downtown Birks store with crowbars. The men smashed display cases and made off with high-end watches and jewellery. The entire robbery was caught on surveillance tape. 

Ahmed-Farrah was later identified as one of the suspects and a Canadawide warrant was issued for his arrest. He was arrested in Montreal and sentenced to four years.

On Monday, Ahmed-Farrah also pleaded guilty to shooting a murder witness in Saskatoon five times.

Noor Ndayisaba had given a witness statement to Saskatoon police after Brandon Baxindall was fatally shot in a gunfight May 19, 2022, outside an apartment building in Nutana. Ndayisaba was wounded in the shootout.

“Ndayisaba sustained a gunshot wound to his ankle,” the agreed statement of facts said.

“He provided a witness statement to the police implicating certain individuals. Ndayisaba put the accused’s [Ahmed-Farrah] number in his phone under the contact ‘this is the guy wanna kill me’.”

Court heard how, on the night of Aug. 5, 2022, Ndayisaba was partying at the Crazy Cactus. He met with Ahmed-Farrah and agreed to go to another address for a drug deal.

“Ndayisaba left the bar with the accused’s girlfriend and the other females and was driven to 150 Pawlychenko Lane and dropped off in front of the apartment complex. As soon as Ndayisaba stepped out of the vehicle, he was shot twice and fell to the ground,” the statement said.

“The shooter appeared to shake the gun and then shot Ndayisaba again while he was laying on the ground.”

Ndayisaba was shot in the buttocks, arms and legs. He spent a month in hospital.

“The accused was identified as the shooter during the investigation through video from the Crazy Cactus Bar and a photo lineup done by the victim,” the statement said.

“The victim believes that he was targeted because of the information he provided to police about the May 2022 homicide.”

Ahmed-Farrah apologized in court Monday “for my dangerous actions” after Judge Bauer accepted the joint submission.