HOW THE PLOT THICKENED

Smollett may he a TV star, but he wasn’t the brightest star on the horizon when he paid Abel Osundairo $3,500 with his personal check

Daily Mail
February 21, 2019

Police say Smollett knew Abel Osundairo, the older brother, because he bought 'designer drugs' from him. In text messages that predate the hoax attack, he asked Abel for 'Molly' - the street name for ecstasy - multiple times.

Following the court hearing during which Smollett’s bail was set at $100,000, prosecutors gave this detailed description of how he put the hoax together.

On January 25, he texted Abel asking him when he was planning to go to Nigeria, a trip that had been prearranged.

They were familiar with one another because Abel had once filled in as a character on Empire who was a love interest of Smollett's character, Jamal Lyon.

Abel replied that he and his brother were leaving on January 29 to which Smollett replied: 'Might need your help on the low.

'You around to meet up and talk face to face?'

That afternoon, they met up at the CineSpace studio and Smollett drove Abel home.

During the car ride, he told him about his 'displeasure' over 20th Century Fox's reaction to the letter he allegedly sent himself days earlier.

He said he wanted to stage an attack and suggested that Ola, Abel's younger brother, get involved.

Once they got to the brothers' home, they summoned Ola outside and Smollett asked the pair if he could trust them.

Smollett then allegedly laid out what he wanted them to do and gave them a $100 bill to buy ski masks, a red hat, gloves, rope and bleach to use.

'He stated that he wanted the brothers to catch his attention by calling him an Empire faggot Empire nigger. He detailed that he wanted Abel to attack him but not to hurt him too badly and give him a chance to fight back.

'He also included that he wanted Ola to place a rope around his neck, pour gasoline on him and yell: "This is MAGA country" and "Make America Great Again,"' a proffer that was released by the State's Attorney's office said.

Police have found surveillance footage of the ride and have phone records which put Smollett in the area of the brothers home at the time.

On January 27, he picked the brothers up from their home and drove them to where he wanted the attack to happen in the late morning.

He warned them not to bring their cell phones with them and showed them a surveillance camera on the corner which he believed would capture the incident.

Smollett drove the brothers home and provided them with a $3500 personal check made payable to Abel, which was backdated to January 23, 2019.

He then flew to New York City to take part in a reading of a play.

The attack was scheduled to take place at 10pm on January 28 but was set back several hours by Smollett's delayed flight from New York to Chicago on the day of the incident.

His flight landed at 12.30am, January 29.

At 12.49am, he called Abel and their conversation lasted three minutes. During this call, he instructed him to carry out the attack at 2am.

Abel then ordered an Uber to pick the pair up at their home and take them to the crime scene.

They took the Uber part of the way but then got out and hopped in a taxi to take them the remainder of the distance.

At 1.22am, they arrived within three blocks of it. At 1.45am, Smollett left his apartment building to go to a Subway and the brothers made their way towards the intended spot.

Smollett, however, was late. They did not cross paths until 2.04am which is when they carried out the attack. At the exact moment it was occurring, an NBC News employee was getting out of her car nearby. She told police later that she did not hear anything suspicious, despite Smollett alleging that the attackers yelled racial slurs.

The attack only lasted 45 seconds and was 'just outside the view of the desired nearby camera that Smollett had pointed out to the brothers approximately 15 hours earlier.'

The brothers then ran away on foot, heading southbound towards the Chicago River. They then got in a taxi at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

Fifteen minutes later, they got out of the cab a few blocks from their house.

Two minutes later, at 2.27am, Smollett's manager reported it to police and police arrived at Smollett's apartment at 2.42am, 12 minutes later.

While being interviewed, he not only described the attack but claimed to have received a phone call on January 26 from someone who said 'hey you little faggot' and hung up. He said the call happened near a camera and that it captured the attack. It was the same camera he pointed out to the brothers in the hope that it would capture their staged ambush.

EDITOR’S NOTE: As for that cut under Smollett’s eye, that was not inflicted by Abel or Ola. It turns out that it was self-inflicted. Smollett simply scratched himself under his right eye.