Man guilty in revenge-bent abduction
Victim’s thumb chopped off during ordeal
EDMONTON An Edmonton man was found guilty Wednesday of being one of three men who abducted and chopped off the thumb of a man who killed a young boy when he drove into a restaurant patio.
Steven Gordon Vollrath, 33, was convicted of kidnapping, aggravated assault, possession of a dangerous weapon and impersonating police in connection with the Jan. 22, 2015, abduction of Richard Suter.
Provincial court Judge Elizabeth Johnson ruled in a written decision that she found Suter’s evidence at trial identifying Vollrath as one of his attackers to be “compelling.”
Johnson also accepted that property found in a fanny pack left at the scene was linked to Vollrath, as was evidence relating to the purchase of police-like clothing that was worn by the kidnappers.
The agreed statement of facts said Vollrath bought a fake bulletproof vest with the words “Police ICE” stencilled on it and a toque with
THE EVIDENCE IS INCONSISTENT WITH ANY OTHER RATIONAL CONCLUSION.
“Police” on it from a West Edmonton Mall store on Jan. 19, 2015.
“All of these circumstances are consistent with the conclusion that the accused was one of Mr. Suter’s attackers,” said Johnson. “Taken as a whole, the evidence is inconsistent with any other rational conclusion.”
The judge said she was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Vollrath impersonated a police officer and kidnapped Suter and, while the evidence did not establish who cut off Suter’s thumb, she said Vollrath was involved in the planned abduction and aggravated assault and therefore “responsible” for the result.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 17.
During the trial, Suter, 65, testified about being forcibly taken from his Riverbend home by three men posing as police officers.
He said he was handcuffed, put into a truck wearing a bag over his head and then a blindfold as he was driven around.
He told court his assailants made him get out of the truck and kneel in the snow, while wearing only a housecoat and boots. When he asked why he was being treated in such a way, one of the men told him he had done “something bad” a couple of years earlier to a family member.
Suter told the court that he then told the man there had been “an accident and a baby died,” to which the man replied: “There you go.”
At that point, Suter testified, someone held him while another person tried to pull off his left thumb with a blunt tool. That didn’t work, and someone then used what he believed to be pruning shears and “finished the job.”
Suter told court in April that he was then beaten unconscious and woke up, alone, with a black eye, scraped face, bruised throat and “blood squirting out” where his thumb had been.
Suter testified that he identified Vollrath in a police photo lineup as being one of the trio involved in the “horrific” attack and said he was 90-per-cent sure he was one of the culprits.
Court also heard about the contents of a fanny pack found at the scene, including three pieces of Vollrath’s ID and a cellphone linked to phone records associated to a “Diamond” Vollrath, and the fact Vollrath has the word “Diamond” tattooed across his torso.
The other two attackers have never been identified.
Meanwhile, Suter was sentenced to four months in jail on Dec. 17, 2015, after earlier pleading guilty to refusing to provide a breath sample where death ensued. He was also banned from driving for 30 months following his release.
Suter’s SUV crashed into the table where Geo Mounsef was sitting with his parents and baby brother at Ric’s Grill in May 2013.
Suter testified he was not impaired, but became distracted while arguing with his wife as he was parking, and “hit the gas pedal instead of the brake.”
Both the Crown and Suter have appealed the sentence, although Suter has already served the time.