'I need to report it,' witness recalls for court in Bakdash case

Cathy Bordeau's voice shook as she repeatedly told the dispatcher she wanted to remain anonymous.

She thought she might have information about the driver who had hit three University of Minnesota students just days before. His name was Tim Bakdash, and he was a friend of her son's.

But first she wanted to know something.

"Did that guy die?" she asked, referring to student Benjamin Van Handel, who was gravely injured after being struck by Bakdash while walking home from a Dinkytown bar.

"Not yet, but it's not looking good," the dispatcher replied.

"I don't like what I heard, and I need to report it," Bordeau told the dispatcher, according to a recording played Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court, the second day of Bakdash's trial.

"I'm a mom, and it bothers me a lot."

Bakdash, 29, of Roseville, is accused of first-degree murder and attempted murder for hitting three U students with his car early on the morning of April 15.

Bakdash's attorney says his client meant only to scare a group of men who had taunted him, that he accidentally struck Van Handel, 23, and two others who were seriously hurt.

Van Handel died of brain injuries five days later.

In a case of mistaken identity, the three victims were not involved with the group Bakdash allegedly aimed for.

Shortly after the crash, Bakdash sold the damaged 2004 Mitsubishi Galant allegedly used in the incident to Brandon Bordeau, Cathy's son.

"I'm hoping that I'm wrong. I'm hoping that it wasn't him," Bordeau whispered on the phone to the dispatcher so her son wouldn't hear. "[Bakdash] seems like a good guy."

A few days later, authorities seized the car, about the time that Bakdash was arrested.

Brandon Bordeau, 27, who testified after his mother, said that nothing seemed amiss when Bakdash, a high school classmate and close friend for about six months, asked him if he wanted to buy his Galant, with its shattered windshield and dented hood.

Bakdash didn't explain the damage and Bordeau testified that he didn't ask questions, assuming his friend had struck a deer.

Bordeau paid $1,000 cash for the car, with a promise to pay an additional $500 later. He got the keys to the car, drove it to his garage and went to work repairing it.

He also didn't think anything of it when he noticed the rear license plate had been flipped around so the numbers weren't visible. When he pulled out the windshield, he said, there was no blood or other evidence that Bakdash might have struck a person.

The next day, Bakdash stopped to visit Bordeau and told him that he thought he might have hit someone. He didn't know that Cathy Bordeau was listening.

Brandon Bordeau is to resume his testimony Wednesday.