'Just two homeless people': Questions linger after man found not guilty in stomping death

The defence lawyer for a man acquitted of murder in the stomping death of a fellow shelter client questions whether the victim might have been saved by passersby if he wasn't homeless. 

Faud Yasir Ali, 31, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Mustafe Mohamud Hussein, who died in the summer of 2015. 

In delivering his decision Tuesday, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Keith Yamauchi agreed with defence lawyer Adriano Iovinelli in finding the quality of the images pulled from video surveillance was not good enough to identify him as the killer. 

"Identity is the crucial issue before this court," Yamauchi said. "This court is not even able to conclude there is some resemblance between the assailant and Mr. Ali."

Video surveillance of the attack shows people driving by as the killer stomps on Hussein's head in broad daylight on 10th Avenue in the Beltline. The victim was of "no fixed address," noted Iovinelli, who said a dozen cars drove by and pedestrians literally had to walk around the unconscious man.

"I can only imagine that if it's someone that looked like a business person or an average citizen of Calgary that cars would have stopped, they would have honked their horns, they would have crossed the street, they would have done something more than just walk away and say 'it's just two homeless people' — and that's just sad," said Iovinelli.

It was around 9 p.m. on a hot July night in 2015 when Hussein — homeless at the time and living at the Mustard Seed — was beaten and stomped into a coma on 10th Avenue at First Street S.E. 

Surveillance video from the area shows people walking and driving by the victim. 

The video showed the killer make a stomping motion before he stood over Hussein, as cars drove by.

More footage from the area showed the same assailant on a nearby LRT platform. 

Hussein died in hospital about a month later. The Somalian-born man had no family in Calgary.

Prosecutors Colin Schulhauser and Adam Drew had argued the victim and accused, both shelter regulars, had been hanging out the day of the attack.

'He is a free man'

They called three witnesses who identified Ali as the person in the still image, which police had released in hopes of catching the killer. 

But Yamauchi said the courts must look beyond the credibility of witnesses and further scrutinize the photo and video evidence. In the end, he found the man in the image issued by police had facial features that were "not even similar" to Ali's.

Ali testified in his own defence and denied any involvement in the attack. 

Today, he will walk out of the Calgary Remand Centre for the first time since his arrest in August 2015, nearly three years ago. Ali expressed concern for his safety as he is processed at the jail before being released.

"I do not feel safe going back there at all," he told the judge, who asked the sheriffs to allow Ali to sit in a public waiting area. 

"Bear in mind here that I have acquitted Mr Ali," said Yamauchi. "He is a free man."