By Ward Market murder trial told victim led a double life

Omar Rashid-Ghader led a double life that saw him as a devoted family man by day and an aspiring, drug-dealing rapper by night, complete with VIP treatment in the ByWard Market scene until he ended up dead on the floor of a club well after last call on the morning of Aug. 14, 2016.

Rashid-Ghader, 33, did everything for his kids, and always wanted them to have a better life than he did as the son of refugees growing up in a south-end public housing project where he became an original gang member of the now-defunct Ledbury-Banff Crips.

At his killer's trial Friday, defence lawyer Solomon Friedman established that not even the victim's widow knew about Rashid-Ghader's life on the other side of midnight. He never drank or smoked weed at home. He was always the one who cooked and showed deep interest in his children's education.

His wife, who testified at Mustafa Ahmed's second-degree murder trial on Friday at the Ottawa courthouse, said she didn't even realize that her late husband's nickname “Esco” was actually a street name until she read about it in this newspaper after the nightclub shooting.

She had no idea it was his street name inspired by the late Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.

She told court that he hadn't been in trouble with the law during their marriage and had turned his life around. But Friedman told court that, in fact, Rashid-Ghader had been dealing drugs up until the day he was shot twice in the chest.

Amina Mohamed stood her ground under an intense cross-examination by Friedman, which revealed she knew next to nothing about her late husband's life outside the family home at night.

He drove an old Range Rover, had a recording studio in a Lees Avenue apartment, was helping run his family's construction company, working tirelessly to launch a catering business, and selling drugs, all the while getting a monthly disability cheque from the government, court heard.

Mohamed said she could speak only about the Omar she knew, the loving family man. She said her husband used to always say his troubles with the law were in the past, in his “younger days”, she told court.

Mohamed said she took him at his word that his criminal past — which included jail time for dealing cocaine — was behind him.

She also told court that she had nothing to do with family finances, and testified under cross-examination that she never saw any of her husband's tax returns and would not know how much he declared annually.

Mohamed, who never set foot in a bar until after her husband's killing, also testified that she didn't approve of the image her late husband portrayed in his music and videos.

Then she noted that if every rapper or artist was condemned for portraying an image, the courts would be flooded.

She said her husband was protective and while she said her late husband was not linked to any danger, she told court that she was uncomfortable naming names of friends because she didn't want to put them in jeopardy.

Mohamed, who didn't know much about her husband's night life, told court there was no animosity between her husband and his killer.

She said the last time she saw her husband and Ahmed it was outside a grocery store. They were hugging, laughing and talking about their kids.

Ahmed, 32, has admitted to a series of facts, including that he shot and killed Rashid- Ghader at a nightclub. He shot him twice in the chest, with one of the hollow-point bullets piercing his heart.

Ottawa police never found the handgun, court heard.

Prosecutors have not established a motive for the argument that led to the killing.

The killing was captured on security video that was shown in court. They were wrestling on the floor when the gun was fired twice.