Accused Calgary killer’s actions shock friend
A friend of Abderrahmane (Adam) Bettahar is shocked the young man she knew ended up on the run, accused of first-degree murder.
Bettahar, 21, died in a gun battle with Mounties on Thursday night.
He had been wanted on a Canadawide warrant for the death of Nadia El-Dib, 22, whose body was found in the backyard of a Marlborough home last Sunday.
Kristen Mendes knew Bettahar and his family during the months they stayed at Calgary’s Brenda House, an emergency shelter for families.
“He was very respectful, very polite, good with his siblings,” Mendes said Friday.
“Not that people can’t do really crazy things, but the kid that I knew in the situation he was facing, was smart, well spoken, polite, happy ... maintaining normal despite everything.”
Police have said that Bettahar and El-Dib were in a relationship for a short time before the slaying. The exact motive is not known.
“We are just relieved because he is caught,” Racha El-Dib, Nadia’s older sister, said of Bettahar.
“We just know that we’re going to be at peace and we’re going to move on from this,” she continued.
Mendes said Bettahar’s mother was unemployed when they met, and Bettahar, who was then in high school, worked at the Westbrook Walmart to help save money for his family to move into a new home.
“It’s very, very strange to know that was the same person (accused of El-Dib’s murder),” Mendes said.
Mendes said that when she left the shelter in February 2014, Bettahar and his family were still living there. Later that year, she ran into Bettahar at the Walmart, where he was still working.
“He was still working, still going to school and still a nice kid,” she said.