Authorities arrest accused killer, two others following alleged illegal border crossing

The run of a man wanted for murder in Saskatchewan, Canada, ended last week in Northwest Montana after law enforcement captured him and two others near Whitefish following a high-speed chase.

Afrah Ahmed Abdi, 32, of Virginia, also identified as Afrah Ali by fingerprints, was booked into the Flathead County Detention Center Jan. 24.

According to Canadian news reports, Abdi was wanted on a second-degree murder charge following a shooting at a Saskatoon restaurant in August 2020.

CTV News reported Abdi was charged with shooting and killing an Ahtahkakoop First Nation man, 30-year-old Logan Nayneecassum.

According to the Montana Department of Justice, Abdi, Christopher White, 41, of Jamaica, and Rastesfaye Alpha Neil, 39, of Washington, D.C., are suspected of entering the U.S. from Canada near the West Kootenai area.

According to the criminal complaints, at about 8:55 a.m. Jan. 23, the Spokane Sector Border Patrol Dispatch received information that three people dressed in camouflage and dark clothing and carrying black backpacks were crossing the border.

Border Patrol agents located a Nissan Sentra on West Kootenai Road leaving the area where the three men had crossed into the U.S. The agents pulled the vehicle over, but as they approached the car, it sped away.

The Nissan headed southeast on U.S. 93 before law officers used spike strips to flatten the tires of the vehicle. It eventually stopped on a small embankment off the highway near Whitefish and officers arrested the trio.

Acting U.S. Attorney Leif Johnson said all three men appeared in U.S. District Court in Missoula Thursday. The complaints accuse White of being an alien in the U.S. after deportation, Neil of transporting certain aliens and Abdi of improper entry by an alien.

The trio are currently being held in the Missoula County Detention Center.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paulette Stewart is prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the Border Patrol, Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, Montana Highway Patrol and Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.

U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Johnston presided. All defendants were detained pending further proceedings.