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Guyanese family indicted for murder in USA
By PAUL NELSON
SCHENECTADY
— A Vale neighbourhood home of suspects in the recent killing of a Guyanese man had a cache of weapons — and an attic “sniper’s nest” set up to defend against a retaliatory attack — when police raided the place, a prosecutor said Friday.
Two cops investigating the killing of Ganesh Ramgoolam were shot when they tried to get inside 935 Maple Avenue, on February 24, last, the day after the killing. Neither was badly injured.
Vishan Parbhudial
Angelene Parbhudial
Chief Assistant District Attorney Philip Mueller said that the “sniper’s nest,” located in the attic in front of a window overlooking the front of 935 Maple Avenue, contained a 7 mm hunting rifle with a high powered scope with a bullet in the chamber, 60 to 70 extra rounds and a low-lying coffee table with a chair.
Besides the rifle, authorities also confiscated a pump-action, 12-gauge shotgun, a 9 mm Derringer, some ammunition for a .22-caliber weapon and an assortment of swords, machetes and baseball bats from the Maple Avenue home of the Parbhudial family.
Mueller made the disclosure Friday in Schenectady County Court during a bail hearing for Angelene Parbhudial, one of four defendants indicted earlier this month on second-degree murder and other felonies in connection with the shooting death of Ramgoolam.
The shotgun was allegedly used by Angelene Parbhudial’s brother, Vishan Parbhudial, 23, to shoot two city police officers who were part of a tactical unit that went to the family’s residence to carry out a search warrant in connection with Ramgoolam’s death.
A third Parbhudial sibling, Adrian, along with their cousin, Dhanashar Persaud, 26, and Angelene Parbhudial’s boyfriend, Richard Baliraj, 21, of Queens, were all indicted on a charge of second-degree murder, gang assault, weapons charges, and tampering with physical evidence, among other charges.
All have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Mueller said Angelene Parbudial, 21, was armed with a baseball bat and was among a group that ambushed Ramgoolam when he and another man drove onto their Maple Avenue Street during the early morning hours of February 23, last.
Afterward, Mueller confirmed Ramgoolam apparently was caught in the middle of a long-standing dispute between the Parbhudials and another group of Guyanese men stemming from a year-old altercation at a wedding. He declined to elaborate.
In court, Angelene Parbhudial’s attorney, Todd Monahan, countered that his client has an infant child and minimal ties with her native Guyana.
“She simply doesn’t have the money or inclination to flee the jurisdiction,” he said, adding she has no criminal record or bad reputation. “She’s 4-foot-11 and 120 pounds and I don’t see how she could be intimidating witnesses if she’s out on the streets.”
Mueller told the court about several incidents where he alleged the woman had stolen from a day care where she was employed, including $750 in an envelope and jewelry in an upstairs apartment, both of which occurred when Angelene Parbhudial was the only adult in the building.
She had blamed the theft on young kids, Mueller said.
Mueller also mentioned that Parbhudial had said in a sworn affidavit that she was a lifelong resident of the Capital Region even though she had emigrated to the U. S from Guyana when she was nine years old.
She also couldn’t remember the nature of criminal charges she had faced as a 15-year-old while living in Queens, a fact that angered Judge Karen Drago.
“I can’t believe someone can come into court and not be able to answer simple questions,” she said.
From the bench, Drago called the clerk’s office in a bid to determine the status of Parbhudial’s passport after the woman told her that it had expired in March.
Asked where she would go if she were released, Parbhudial gave co-defendant Persaud’s Moyston Street address.
In the end, Drago denied bail, citing her belief that the defendant wasn’t being totally forthcoming and didn’t have a place to stay if she were released.
“In a separate proceeding, Angelene Parbhudial’s mother, 44-year-old Omawattie Parbhudial, pleaded not guilty to four counts of hindering prosecution. Out on bail, the elder Parbhudial is due back in court in August.
Drago ordered her to surrender her passport. (timesunion.com)
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