Ontario men admit to kidnapping Calgary teen at movie theatre for $80K ransom

CBC

21 hours ago

Two Ontario men have admitted to kidnapping a Calgary teenager from a local movie theatre and holding her for 34 hours while proof-of-life photos were sent to the 19-year-old victim's family.
The men, Raejean Hudson and Enyi-Egbe Idedevbo travelled from Vancouver to kidnap the victim, with a promise to be paid $80,000.
CBC News will call the young woman LE in order to comply with a publication ban.
On Friday, Hudson and Idedevbo pleaded guilty to kidnapping and were handed four-and-a-half year sentences by Justice Margaret Keelaghan after a joint submission was proposed by defence lawyers Andrea Urquhart and Jeanine Zahara and prosecutors Donna Spaner and Katherine Love.
'No idea why she was being abducted'
With credit for the time they've already served, the pair have about two years left in custody.
Court heard that on April 29, 2023, Hudson and Idedevbo travelled from Vancouver to Calgary to kidnap a member of the "E" family, according to an agreed statement of facts (ASF) filed as part of the plea.
The victim was not involved in any criminal activity, according to the ASF.
"At the time she was kidnapped, she was unaware that she was related to anyone who was," read the statement.
"She had no idea why she was being abducted."
On top of a cut of the ransom money, the two men had been promised that "if they did 'good' work there was additional lucrative work that would be available to them," the statement said.
Hudson and Idedevbo had been told that the point of the kidnapping "was to get drug trafficking product returned to whomever had hired them," according to the ASF.
Rented Airbnb
At least four people were involved in the kidnapping, but only Hudson and Idedevbo have been identified.
Three days after they arrived in Calgary, the men tracked LE down at a local theatre.
They pulled up beside her vehicle in the parking lot and when she exited the theatre, just after 6 p.m., the men grabbed LE as she approached her car, forcing her into the back of their Hyundai Santa Fe.
The men took LE to the basement of a rented Airbnb.
LE's eyes were covered in duct tape, but she could see black plastic covering the walls and floors.
Her wrists and ankles were also duct-taped.
One of the men recorded LE while another held an unlit butane torch in front of her face.
Proof-of-life video
That video and other "proof-of-life" photos and videos were sent to LE's family, including her brother, making the ransom demand.
At some point during the kidnapping the victim was forced to undress and some of her jewlery was stolen.
The agreed facts don't make it clear why LE was released, but after 34 hours, she was dropped off at the intersection of Glenmore Trail and Range Road 282.
Police quickly located the young woman, who was physically uninjured.
LE has suffered serious psychological harm. She has been unable to work and has dropped out of school.