TOLEDO, Ohio — Nov. 19 marks 14 years since a husband, father, brother and beloved carryout clerk was gunned down and left for dead, all for the less than $50 the killer took from the register.
Bassam "Sam" Kanouh's killer has never been found. Detectives are hoping to find some new leads.
"This one here is him and I attending our cousin's wedding," said Sam's brother, Bashar Kanouh, as he held up a photo of the two of them in 2009.
Bashar and Sam Kanouh were as close as any brothers could be.
"Obviously, the time we spent together, that doesn't exist anymore," Bashar Kanouh said.
Sam Kanouh had been laid off from his manufacturing job, so he took a job working midnights at the Lewis Carryout on Lewis Avenue in Toledo to take care of his wife and three kids.
"He was trying to bring some money to the family, just a temporary period," his brother said.
Bashar Kanouh was concerned about his brother's safety, working nights at the carryout, and said he found him another, safer job. But Sam Kanouh never had the chance to start that new job.
"It was Nov. 19, 2009, when 911 received a call from someone who was obviously in distress and he's trying to communicate to them that he's been shot," said Toledo Police Detective Bill Goodlet.
Kanouh told the 911 dispatcher he had been shot in the chest at the carryout around 9:15 p.m.
"They kept him on the line," Goodlet said. "He was able to give a description of a black male in black that shot him, but not much else."
Sam Kanouh wanted the police to call his brother.
"He was still alive," Bashar Kanouh said. "He had detectives call me on my phone but I had it turned off."
"He was taken to the hospital, but didn't survive," Goodlet said.
The news quickly spread that the kind, helpful clerk who gave away umbrellas when it rained, taught young customers math with his register and let them slide if they were short a dollar or two had been murdered.
Customers visited the carryout immediately upon hearing of Sam's murder, posting messages on the door for him. Several of them spoke to WTOL 11 back in 2009 about Kanouh's character and kindness as a neighborhood clerk.
"This lady came in and it was raining, she didn't have an umbrella and he pulled one out and gave it to her so she could walk home," said one man who attended a vigil for Kanouh.
"It's a shock, because I was in here at 9:00 and there was nobody here," another customer said.
"My register receipt is actually dated for 9:09 and they say he was killed at 9:15," said customer Angela Baker as she wiped away tears in 2009.
A memorial grew and hundreds attended a vigil outside the carryout where Kanouh lost his life.
Meanwhile, police were at work trying to figure out who did it.
"There was only that we know of two people in the store, that would have been the suspect and the victim," Goodlet said. "The best description we had came from the victim himself."
There were no working security cameras, no witnesses and the only person who could say what happened was dead.
No one came forward when Bashar Kanouh put up posters offering a $5,000 reward for information.
"A carryout, most people pull in kind of quickly," Goodlet said. "They know what they're going to go in and get so if you're going to rob the store, you're taking your chances someone's not going to come in while you're in the middle of your robbery."
Goodlet told WTOL 11 that one woman was in the store when police arrived. However, the woman appeared to have arrived after Kanouh was shot and did not see anything. She didn't even know Kanouh was in the back room where he had gone to call 911.
While the killer got away clean in 2009, detectives are hoping he's been sloppy over the years.
"This is one that we haven't had anything new come in for quite some time and we thought it would be best to bring it out again and see if perhaps over the years whoever did this has maybe made some statements to somebody else along the way," Goodlet said.
WTOL 11 reached out to Kanouh's children and wife. One of his daughters said the family is too traumatized to talk about his death.
His brother also said it's too painful to provide an interview, but did talk to WTOL 11 by phone and said what hurts most is the senselessness of the crime and the fact that Kanouh's children had to grow up without their father.
Bashar Kanouh said someone has to know something or have seen something, so he is renewing his $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call or text Crime Stoppers at 419-255-1111. You can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.