BACKGROUND: From a previous post of this Blog: (June 5, sos6): "Chris Sheriffe: Ontario: Major (most unusual) Development; (Murder On Mount Olive hearing): As my former Toronto Star colleague Toronto Star Chief Investigative Reporter Kevin Donovan reports, "One of two men convicted of first-degree murder in the death of a Toronto furniture maker 16 years ago has changed his story in a reversal that could have significant consequences for Christopher Sheriffe — the co-accused man who continues to argue his conviction was a “miscarriage of justice," noting that: "Awet Asfaha had long maintained his innocence in the shooting of Bishen Golaub outside a neighbourhood barbecue on Mount Olive Drive in Etobicoke on a sweltering afternoon in August 2009. In a profanity-laced police interview and at trial, he claimed he knew nothing about the murder, and a mysterious man on the street was the real shooter. On Thursday, court heard he has now confessed to the shooting, and both earlier stories were “a lie.”"
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: ""Awet Asfaha is trying to convince a jury he deserves a chance at early parole. Earlier this week, he finally admitted to killing Bishen Golaub, 34, outside a garden barbecue in Etobicoke in 2009."
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STORY: "Convicted Toronto killer has ‘one of the biggest hearts I have ever seen,’ life coach tells faint-hope hearing," by Chief Investigative Reporter Kevin Donovan, published on June 10, 2026. (Kevin Donovan is the Toronto Star’s Chief Investigative Reporter. His focus is on journalism that exposes wrongdoing and effects change. Over more than three decades he has reported on the activities of charities, government, police, business among other institutions. Donovan also reported from the battlefields in the Gulf War and the war in Afghanistan following 9/11. He has won three National Newspaper Awards, two Governor General’s Michener Awards, the Canadian Journalism Foundation award and three Canadian Association of Journalists Awards. As the Star’s editor of investigations for many years, Donovan led many award-winning projects for the paper. He is the author of several books, including “Secret Life: The Jian Ghomeshi Investigation” and the “Dead Times” (a fiction novel).)
SUB-HEADING: "Awet Asfaha is trying to convince a jury he deserves a chance at early parole. Earlier this week, he finally admitted to killing Bishen Golaub, 34, outside a garden barbecue in Etobicoke in 2009."
Crown attorney Katherine Rogozinski has cross-examined all of the witnesses, pressing them on whether they had specific details on why Asfaha was in prison, and whether they were aware of his previous cocaine trafficking and possession convictions, along with convictions for failing to show up for court. Most, including Asfaha’s family, said they were unaware of the details.
One sister, Semret, testified she was very close to Awet, yet only learned last month that he was, after 17 years, admitting to being the shooter in the Golaub case. Semret testified that she did know that Awet was in a fight in prison, but had been assured by him that the other person started it. Crown Rogozinski asked if she knew, as the court has heard this week, that Awet “threw the first punch.” Semret said that was not the story she was told by her brother. Another sister, Salina, testified that she and her brother speak frequently on the phone, and he often speaks about the importance of a “healthy diet.” She said he has been working on reducing his body fat index and frequently encourages her to do so as well.
“I thought, this guy is changing,” she said, describing how open her brother is about his accomplishments while behind bars.
What the jury must decide at Asfaha’s faint-hope hearing
At issue in this hearing is whether Asfaha is a changed man and whether the community at large would be at risk if he were paroled. Crown Rogozinski has repeatedly pointed out in her questions that Asfaha lied at his trial, saying a mysterious third man killed Golaub. It is only now, court has heard, that he has changed his story — in these rare “faint hope” hearings, taking accountability for a crime is key.
Before he was on Vancouver Island, Asfaha was an inmate at Mountain Head Institution in the upper Fraser Valley near Agassiz, BC. While there, he became a trusted inmate and had jobs in the prison warehouse. He was also allowed to keep a cat, Peanut. When Peanut was attacked by a raccoon, Asfaha asked his family for money to pay the $1,000 veterinary bill for surgery to fix the cat’s leg. When they could not help him, he paid the bill himself, court heard.
(Peanut has come up several times during the hearing — Asfaha was accused of having a contraband SD computer storage card in his cell, containing music and an episode of the Star Wars TV show The Mandalorian. Prison records reveal Asfaha said the SD card belonged to a previous inmate, and Peanut had accidentally knocked it into his shoe.)
16 years later, this Toronto gunman has confessed his story was a ‘lie.’ What does it mean for the man who says he was wrongfully convicted?
Boutilier, the prison staffer who said he would be fine if Asfaha lived on his own street one day, said he got to know Asfaha very well. “I’ve found him very respectful. I found him to be reliable, functional,” and a “good employee.” Through the five years Boutilier knew Asfaha, he saw him move away from associating with inmates who could be a bad influence on him.
A forensic psychologist who assessed Asfaha in 2024 rated him as a “moderate risk range for general and violent reoffending.” This was following a fight with another inmate over a Super Bowl bet. Not long after that, Asfaha was transferred from the medium-security Mountain Head Institution to the minimum-security institution on Vancouver Island. He has not been assessed since then.
The forensic psychologist, Dr. Carmen Neufeld, testified about how important it is to “set (inmates) up for success” before their release on parole. “These fellows need to have a support system in place.”
Court has heard that Asfaha, should he be released, would like to stay in BC. His family lives in Ontario, and has only rarely visited, court heard.
The hearing continues for the rest of the week. Evidence is expected to be completed by Friday with the projected end of Asfaha’s testimony. The jury has been told they will likely begin deliberations on Wednesday, following submissions from the Crown and defence and the judge’s charge to the jury.
The murder of Bishen Golaub has been the focus of a Toronto Star series and podcast.
The entire story can be read at: https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/convicted-toronto-killer-has-one-of-the-biggest-hearts-i-have-ever-seen-life-coach-tells-faint-hope-hearing/article_26edb19f-dbb9-406c-81c2-58b5495197bb.html
STORY: "Convicted Toronto killer has ‘one of the biggest hearts I have ever seen,’ life coach tells faint-hope hearing," by Chief Investigative Reporter Kevin Donovan, published on June 10, 2026. (Kevin Donovan is the Toronto Star’s Chief Investigative Reporter. His focus is on journalism that exposes wrongdoing and effects change. Over more than three decades he has reported on the activities of charities, government, police, business among other institutions. Donovan also reported from the battlefields in the Gulf War and the war in Afghanistan following 9/11. He has won three National Newspaper Awards, two Governor General’s Michener Awards, the Canadian Journalism Foundation award and three Canadian Association of Journalists Awards. As the Star’s editor of investigations for many years, Donovan led many award-winning projects for the paper. He is the author of several books, including “Secret Life: The Jian Ghomeshi Investigation” and the “Dead Times” (a fiction novel).)
SUB-HEADING: "Awet Asfaha is trying to convince a jury he deserves a chance at early parole. Earlier this week, he finally admitted to killing Bishen Golaub, 34, outside a garden barbecue in Etobicoke in 2009."
GIST: "He’s a killer with a high-energy life coach who helped him find the “elixir” to turn his life around. And he has backers among prison staff who support his bid for early parole to a Vancouver-area community.
“If Mr. Asfaha was living on my block, I would … wish him well,” said corrections official Kim Boutilier, one of a series of witnesses testifying about how convicted killer Awet Asfaha has changed his ways and should be a candidate for early parole.
“I think he’s earned it.”
At group sessions in the ocean-side prison on Vancouver Island, life coach Cameron MacDougall found Asfaha dedicated to turning his life around. “Awet has one of the biggest hearts I have ever seen,” MacDougall testified, revealing that he has his own violent criminal past but now, as a “high performance coach,” he helps people reach their true potential.
Asfaha is one of two men convicted of first-degree murder in the 2009 shooting death of Bishen Golaub, a 34-year-old furniture maker with no gang ties. In a stunning admission this week, Asfaha admitted through his lawyer to having pumped three bullets into Golaub outside a garden barbecue in Etobicoke. That revelation brought tears from Golaub’s widow, who left the courtroom on the first day of the hearing and is now only watching via Zoom.
A man was shot at a Toronto barbecue. Another is in jail for life. The Star reinvestigated the case and found flaws — was the right person convicted?
Both Asfaha and co-accused Christopher Sheriffe were said at their 2012 trial to have affiliations with the Jamestown Crips and were sentenced to life in prison with no chance to apply for parole for 25 years.
Sheriffe, a one-time soccer star, who is in a medium-security prison near Kingston, maintains his innocence and is applying for a review by the federal justice department. Sheriffe was found to have been the getaway driver — he testified all he did was drop off and pick up Asfaha at his request that day.
Asfaha will testify later this week. The now-41-year-old’s hopes for freedom are pinned on a 12-person jury that will be asked by Superior Court Justice Breese Davies to determine if he should be allowed to apply for early parole. He has been in jail or prison since his 2009 arrest — almost 17 years. If the jury rules against him, he will not be able to apply to the National Parole Board until 2034.
Making the case for her client, defence lawyer Breana Vandebeek has brought to court a parade of witnesses, including members of Asfaha’s family, corrections staff from British Columbia, a psychologist, a prison counsellor and a stage director.
The story of Awet Asfaha’s time in prison
Over his time in three BC prisons, court heard Asfaha progressed from maximum to medium security, and is now in the minimum security William Head Institution on Vancouver Island, where inmates are encouraged to do morning cold plunges in the Pacific Ocean, write letters to people in their lives and burn them or scatter them in the ocean, all part of a healing process. Recently, Asfaha wrote and performed in a “sold out” play at William Head that was open to the Vancouver Island community, focusing on his life experiences.
“Awet was a big hit. So dynamic, there is a deep warmth to him,” director Deb Williams testified this week.
Life coach Cameron MacDougall testified at the Awet Asfaha faint-hope hearing.
At William Head, where he has been incarcerated since early 2025, he met MacDougall, the life coach. MacDougall told court he had convictions in his past for armed robbery and assault. Today, he runs Inbodied, a one-person company where he works with “executives, leaders and entrepreneurs to find true balance and fulfilment,” according to an online profile. He told court that as a volunteer, he started “Break the Cycle,” a prison program that encourages inmates on Vancouver Island to find an “elixir” that will “change the world.”
He said Asfaha’s elixir is cooking — “he wanted to bring forth food trucks” and “give youth an opportunity to come and learn how to cook.”
“If Mr. Asfaha was living on my block, I would … wish him well,” said corrections official Kim Boutilier, one of a series of witnesses testifying about how convicted killer Awet Asfaha has changed his ways and should be a candidate for early parole.
“I think he’s earned it.”
At group sessions in the ocean-side prison on Vancouver Island, life coach Cameron MacDougall found Asfaha dedicated to turning his life around. “Awet has one of the biggest hearts I have ever seen,” MacDougall testified, revealing that he has his own violent criminal past but now, as a “high performance coach,” he helps people reach their true potential.
Asfaha is one of two men convicted of first-degree murder in the 2009 shooting death of Bishen Golaub, a 34-year-old furniture maker with no gang ties. In a stunning admission this week, Asfaha admitted through his lawyer to having pumped three bullets into Golaub outside a garden barbecue in Etobicoke. That revelation brought tears from Golaub’s widow, who left the courtroom on the first day of the hearing and is now only watching via Zoom.
A man was shot at a Toronto barbecue. Another is in jail for life. The Star reinvestigated the case and found flaws — was the right person convicted?
Both Asfaha and co-accused Christopher Sheriffe were said at their 2012 trial to have affiliations with the Jamestown Crips and were sentenced to life in prison with no chance to apply for parole for 25 years.
Sheriffe, a one-time soccer star, who is in a medium-security prison near Kingston, maintains his innocence and is applying for a review by the federal justice department. Sheriffe was found to have been the getaway driver — he testified all he did was drop off and pick up Asfaha at his request that day.
Asfaha will testify later this week. The now-41-year-old’s hopes for freedom are pinned on a 12-person jury that will be asked by Superior Court Justice Breese Davies to determine if he should be allowed to apply for early parole. He has been in jail or prison since his 2009 arrest — almost 17 years. If the jury rules against him, he will not be able to apply to the National Parole Board until 2034.
Making the case for her client, defence lawyer Breana Vandebeek has brought to court a parade of witnesses, including members of Asfaha’s family, corrections staff from British Columbia, a psychologist, a prison counsellor and a stage director.
The story of Awet Asfaha’s time in prison
Over his time in three BC prisons, court heard Asfaha progressed from maximum to medium security, and is now in the minimum security William Head Institution on Vancouver Island, where inmates are encouraged to do morning cold plunges in the Pacific Ocean, write letters to people in their lives and burn them or scatter them in the ocean, all part of a healing process. Recently, Asfaha wrote and performed in a “sold out” play at William Head that was open to the Vancouver Island community, focusing on his life experiences.
“Awet was a big hit. So dynamic, there is a deep warmth to him,” director Deb Williams testified this week.
Life coach Cameron MacDougall testified at the Awet Asfaha faint-hope hearing.
At William Head, where he has been incarcerated since early 2025, he met MacDougall, the life coach. MacDougall told court he had convictions in his past for armed robbery and assault. Today, he runs Inbodied, a one-person company where he works with “executives, leaders and entrepreneurs to find true balance and fulfilment,” according to an online profile. He told court that as a volunteer, he started “Break the Cycle,” a prison program that encourages inmates on Vancouver Island to find an “elixir” that will “change the world.”
He said Asfaha’s elixir is cooking — “he wanted to bring forth food trucks” and “give youth an opportunity to come and learn how to cook.”
Crown attorney Katherine Rogozinski has cross-examined all of the witnesses, pressing them on whether they had specific details on why Asfaha was in prison, and whether they were aware of his previous cocaine trafficking and possession convictions, along with convictions for failing to show up for court. Most, including Asfaha’s family, said they were unaware of the details.
One sister, Semret, testified she was very close to Awet, yet only learned last month that he was, after 17 years, admitting to being the shooter in the Golaub case. Semret testified that she did know that Awet was in a fight in prison, but had been assured by him that the other person started it. Crown Rogozinski asked if she knew, as the court has heard this week, that Awet “threw the first punch.” Semret said that was not the story she was told by her brother. Another sister, Salina, testified that she and her brother speak frequently on the phone, and he often speaks about the importance of a “healthy diet.” She said he has been working on reducing his body fat index and frequently encourages her to do so as well.
“I thought, this guy is changing,” she said, describing how open her brother is about his accomplishments while behind bars.
What the jury must decide at Asfaha’s faint-hope hearing
At issue in this hearing is whether Asfaha is a changed man and whether the community at large would be at risk if he were paroled. Crown Rogozinski has repeatedly pointed out in her questions that Asfaha lied at his trial, saying a mysterious third man killed Golaub. It is only now, court has heard, that he has changed his story — in these rare “faint hope” hearings, taking accountability for a crime is key.
Before he was on Vancouver Island, Asfaha was an inmate at Mountain Head Institution in the upper Fraser Valley near Agassiz, BC. While there, he became a trusted inmate and had jobs in the prison warehouse. He was also allowed to keep a cat, Peanut. When Peanut was attacked by a raccoon, Asfaha asked his family for money to pay the $1,000 veterinary bill for surgery to fix the cat’s leg. When they could not help him, he paid the bill himself, court heard.
(Peanut has come up several times during the hearing — Asfaha was accused of having a contraband SD computer storage card in his cell, containing music and an episode of the Star Wars TV show The Mandalorian. Prison records reveal Asfaha said the SD card belonged to a previous inmate, and Peanut had accidentally knocked it into his shoe.)
16 years later, this Toronto gunman has confessed his story was a ‘lie.’ What does it mean for the man who says he was wrongfully convicted?
Boutilier, the prison staffer who said he would be fine if Asfaha lived on his own street one day, said he got to know Asfaha very well. “I’ve found him very respectful. I found him to be reliable, functional,” and a “good employee.” Through the five years Boutilier knew Asfaha, he saw him move away from associating with inmates who could be a bad influence on him.
A forensic psychologist who assessed Asfaha in 2024 rated him as a “moderate risk range for general and violent reoffending.” This was following a fight with another inmate over a Super Bowl bet. Not long after that, Asfaha was transferred from the medium-security Mountain Head Institution to the minimum-security institution on Vancouver Island. He has not been assessed since then.
The forensic psychologist, Dr. Carmen Neufeld, testified about how important it is to “set (inmates) up for success” before their release on parole. “These fellows need to have a support system in place.”
Court has heard that Asfaha, should he be released, would like to stay in BC. His family lives in Ontario, and has only rarely visited, court heard.
The hearing continues for the rest of the week. Evidence is expected to be completed by Friday with the projected end of Asfaha’s testimony. The jury has been told they will likely begin deliberations on Wednesday, following submissions from the Crown and defence and the judge’s charge to the jury.
The murder of Bishen Golaub has been the focus of a Toronto Star series and podcast.
The entire story can be read at: https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/convicted-toronto-killer-has-one-of-the-biggest-hearts-i-have-ever-seen-life-coach-tells-faint-hope-hearing/article_26edb19f-dbb9-406c-81c2-58b5495197bb.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog. FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."Lawyer Radha Natarajan: Executive Director: New England Innocence Project; FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true;
