A Montreal teacher says he is struggling with grief and regret after learning one of his former students, a man later known as an organized crime figure, was shot dead in a brazen daylight attack at a Laval Starbucks last week.
Forty-year-old Charalambos Theologou, known on as ‘Bobby the Greek,’ was killed at 10:30 a.m. at the commercial plaza in what police have described as a targeted hit. He had a lengthy criminal record, including convictions for drug trafficking, conspiracy and weapons offences.
But to James Watts, an educator and principal at Education Plus, an alternative private high school for struggling teens in Saint-Laurent, Theologou was once a curious, energetic student with promise.
A Montreal teacher mourns his former student, slain crime figure ‘Bobby the Greek,’ reflecting on the promise he once saw.
Global News/ Dan Spector
“Curious, full of life, a bit of a clown in class, but he did what was required for him to graduate,” Watts told Global News in an interview Wednesday.
Watts said he tries to stay in touch with many of his former students, celebrating their successes and mourning their losses. But this time, he said the news was more difficult for him.
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“I think my grief has more to do with a life that could have been,” he said. “I think about what he could have done with his life if he had made better choices.”
Watts keeps a 2005 newspaper clipping showing a smiling Theologou in the back of a police car after a drug bust — a painful reminder of the turn his life took. He remembers seeing him again about a decade ago, when Theologou attended a relative’s graduation.
“He told me that he was turning his life around, and I really believed him,” Watts said. “But at the time I noticed he was also wearing a tracking bracelet and had to be home.”
After Theologou’s killing, Watts revisited some of his old schoolwork, reflecting on whether he could have done anything differently.
“I’m not blaming myself,” he said, “but I wouldn’t be a great teacher if I didn’t take the time to reflect and think, ‘Can I improve on what I’m doing?’”
Youth defence lawyer Tiago Murias says while some young offenders fall through the cracks, most find their footing and stay out of trouble.
“We don’t see the ones the system helped,” Murias said. “There’s no newspaper article saying, ‘Breaking news — this guy didn’t reoffend.’”
In his Saint-Laurent office, Watts keeps a small lighthouse statue that many former students visit — a beacon, he says, for those looking for direction when life gets rough.
He said he wishes Theologou could have been one of them.
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