Diane Bakdash, mother of the man charged with the murder of Ben Van Handel after a hit-and-run, is seeking to have her own accessory charges tossed because of new doubt from a key witness, according to the Strib.
“B.B.,” as he’s identified in court documents, became an informant for the deadly April hit-and-run case after the alleged driver, Timothy Bakdash, sold B.B. the car. Diane Bakdash came into play as an accessory because she told her son to get rid of the car to cover up what he had done, prosecutors say. B.B. originally told police he overheard the mother and son discussing this in the background of a phone call with Timothy.
But now B.B. has told a defense attorney that the woman he overheard may not have been Timothy’s mother. According to the Strib, he said in an interview there were “at least three times now that when I was on the phone with Bakdash, that I overheard a woman. Whether it was his mother, I don’t have a clue.”
In other news of the case, prosecutors said Bakdash did not have interaction with any of the group he hit, though he told B.B. that he intentionally ran them over because of an argument. Investigation also revealed that B.B. knew Timothy Bakdash from high school and had planned to buy the car since before the April 15 crash.
Diane Bakdash was released on $100,000 bail but her son remains behind bars instead of paying his $1 million bail. Her motion to dismiss the charges was filed Friday and will likely see a hearing.