Latest update March 24th, 2025 7:05 AM
Barbadian man gets 15 years for killing Guyanese wife
Yesterday, less than a year after her death, Bibi Ifill’s murderer, Mark Ifill, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The sentence was handed down in the Barbados Supreme Court.
The tragic tale which came to its end yesterday began on August 15, 2010, the last day that Bibi Ifill was seen alive.
A few days after August 15 relatives and friends realised that the woman had not made an appearance for some time. Calls to her work place confirmed that she had indeed been away from work for at least two days.
At that point a missing person’s report was filed with the police who immediately proceeded to question Mark Ifill, her husband of two years.
Ifill told them at first that he hadn’t seen his wife for at least two or three weeks. He then told the police that he had taken his wife out to a deserted area in a place called Rock Dundo. After a search of the area produced no results the police returned to the husband who eventually relented and told them that his wife’s body was in the yard.
Dead: Bibi Ifill
Their search turned up the woman’s body in a sealed over septic tank hidden by a shed at the back of the house.
Ifill later signed a statement giving a full confession to the murder.
Early reports indicated that the relationship was an abusive one, to the extent that a protection order had been filed and that the couple had decided to go their separate ways. During the divorce proceedings Bibi Ifill apparently remained in her matrimonial home at the advice of her attorney.
Mark Ifill’s sentence was 15 years but will only serve 14 years since time served has already been discounted.
Bibi Ifill’s sister, Zarfana Bacchus, told Kaieteur News, “This beast planned the brutal murder of my sister. He had a hole already prepared to throw her down, so that no one could find her remains.
“We never got to see her again, because her body was not for the human eyes to see after he had finished with her. This beast didn’t just kill my sister, he did many awful things to her before he killed her. We are very much aware of this. We still sometimes wonder if she was even dead when he threw her in the ‘well’.”
Zarfana went on to say that she and her family feel that their sister’s murderer should not be freed so soon. She said that it was horrible to think that “after 15 years this monster will be out on the streets again, to commit another … murder.”
At the very least, however, Bibi’s family has managed to find some amount of closure in their grief; not so for the families of many murder victims in Guyana.
A startlingly similar case was plastered across newspapers just a few weeks ago. It was a particularly brutal murder of a woman by her partner. The murderer was sentenced to 15 years as well, although his sentence was reduced from 25 years.
This murder, however, happened right here in Guyana. There was even a witness that placed the assailant at the scene. But it took five years for the Guyanese courts to rule on the matter.
This was the case of Tricia Welch who was murdered by Shawn Sooklall, better known as the Butcher. He stabbed her 15 times in a gruesome display of hatred that was witnessed by the victim’s young daughter.
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Ghetto youth, why dont you get a life…rather than to sit around minding people’s business. And keep in mind that no matter what any of your fellow human beings does, NO ONE ON THE FACE OF THIS EARTH HAS THE RIGHT TO TAKE THEIR LIFE. Non of us gave life, and it’s a sin to condon such actions in anyway, or in your case make excuses for it. I would’ve like to hear your comment if it was your mother, sister or daughter.
He was a fool that suit him fine.
He is a dog.
…. in some ways politics as in GUYANA have a lot to do with it ,, it is my belief and “opinion” ,, that she ended up there ,, from GUYANA as a “mule” ,, the company ,, she was involved with turned her into a “receptacle” ,, of course ,, what she practised at home is exactly what she took outside and abroad ,, i’m surprised ,, more is not happening to many like her ,, in bajan ,, one of them i know who’s back in Kaneville ,, was used to the limit ,, until she was finally deported !…it was the politics of ‘farbes’ ,, that is his legacy….