Murder suspect was out on bail
Charged Nov. 8 with 10 offences Was high school basketball star
Two men — including a 20- yearold former high school basketball star released on bail last month on gun charges — are to appear in court this morning charged with second-degree murder in last week’s shooting of a car salesman.
Toronto police arrested Jodie Alistaire Wheatle on Sunday, while Marcel Blackburn, 20, turned himself in at 31 Division yesterday morning. Sepehr Fatulahzadeh-Rabti, 25, known as Danny, was gunned down in the parking lot of his family’s dealership, Ginniva Motors, on Steeles Ave. W. near Highway 400, last Thursday after an altercation with two men.
Less than a month ago, on Nov. 8, Wheatle was charged with 10 criminal offences, including possessing a loaded .45- calibre semi- automatic firearm and assaulting a police officer. He was arrested at Yorkdale Shopping Centre after a chase, police said. Homicide Det. Wayne Fowler said yesterday two men went to the dealership looking for the person who brokered a leasing deal for a vehicle. He was not there. Words were exchanged and the men were asked to leave.
“ It starts inside the car dealership and eventually moves out into the parking lot, at which time a firearm is retrieved from a vehicle, a number of shots were fired and the deceased was struck twice,” Fowler said. Fatulahzadeh- Rabti, who worked with his brothers at the dealership owned by their uncle, died from gunshot wounds to the head and chest. “Danny is innocent from all this,” Fowler said. “ He was actually visiting that day, he wasn’t even working that day . . . he just happened to be there, and then the altercation and the fight started and he got wrapped into this.” With witness co- operation and Crime Stoppers tips, two suspects were quickly identified. Fowler knew right away he was hunting for a man who was let out on bail just weeks ago. He does not know the conditions of his release.
Neither accused had any previous dealings with the victim, Fowler said. What Fowler didn’t know at first was that just a few years ago, Wheatle was a top basketball player at Westview Centennial Secondary School, near Jane St. and Finch Ave. W.
Basketball coach Roy Rana, whose Eastern High School of Commerce Saints have won the past four Ontario Federation of Schools Athletic Association championships, remembers Wheatle from competitions.
“ In high school, he knew his stuff and was a very good basketball player — one of the better guards in the city,” Rana said.
“( Wheatle) is a Westview legend in basketball,” said Wendell Brereton, a former member of Canada’s basketball team and now a constable with the Ontario Provincial Police.
“ He was a very good high school basketball player but with no opportunities because of poor grades. For universities looking to get good players, it was easier to find a talented kid who had career goals.
“ Wheatle had athletic ability but no support system.”