EDMONTON — A decision in the case of a man charged with kidnapping and aggravated assault in the 2015 abduction and beating of Richard Suter is scheduled for June 6.
Closing arguments in the Steven Gordon Vollrath trial were heard Wednesday.
Vollrath is accused of being one of three people who went to a southwest Edmonton home in January 2015 and demanded Suter come with them as they impersonated police officers. The men drove him to a nearby field, where they cut off one of his thumbs and left him in the field.
Suter was behind the wheel of an SUV that crashed onto a restaurant patio in 2013, killing two-year-old Geo Mounsef. He was sentenced to four months in jail for failing to provide a breath sample in a death.
The court heard testimony Monday suggesting the two events are connected.
READ MORE: Man charged with abducting and severing thumb of alleged drunk driver
Suter testified at Vollrath’s trial Monday, describing the kidnapping and how his abductors cut off his thumb. Suter said he believes the men who took him did so because of his role in the death of Mounsef.
Suter told court one of his captors told him: “You did something bad a couple years ago.”
While Suter’s abductors wore masks, the victim told court he could see their faces. Court watched a video of Suter pick a man out of a photo lineup. Suter claims he is 90 per cent sure the man he selected is one of his attackers.
At the time of the 2015 incident, Suter was found with a fanny pack which contained an expired licence belonging to Vollrath. The accused also purchased a fake bulletproof vest days before the attack.
Vollrath’s lawyer focused on the uncertainty of Suter’s identification attempts in the video shown in court Monday.
Vollrath’s lawyer said the police had tunnel vision in the case and Suter couldn’t say for certain the identity of the masked men.
In the days following the attack, Suter told his story to Global News.
“I was told to get out of the car and kneel in the snowbank that was beside the car,” Suter said on Jan. 24, 2015. “They freed one of my hands, which I guess was my left hand, and cut my left thumb off with – I think it was a pair of pruning shears.”
Suter said he was beaten and must have passed out because the next thing he remembered was waking up in a field.
He said he believed revenge was the only possible motive for the attack.
READ MORE: Crown files appeal of Edmonton man’s sentence in toddler’s patio death
A witness told Global News that Suter flagged down his car in the area of 170 Street and Ellerslie Road.
“He immediately said, ‘I need help. I don’t know where I am and I’m missing my thumb,’” the witness said in 2015.
READ MORE: Geo’s mom reacts to suspect’s abduction, beating
Vollrath was charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, possession of a weapon and impersonating a police officer.
He was arrested in Canmore in May 2015. At the time, he was also wanted in B.C. for allegedly firing a gun at a police officer before taking off and leading officers on a high-speed chase that spanned three jurisdictions.
With files from Fletcher Kent, Global News.
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