Four acquitted of Canal Number Two murder

Nov 06, 2014 News

After spending almost seven years behind bars, the four men who were indicted for the murder of an elderly woman

Murdered: ‘Budhia’ called Ronui

at Canal Number Two West Bank Demerara, (WBD) were freed, yesterday.
A mixed 12-member jury returned unanimous verdicts of not guilty for Nigel Sookram, Steve Sookdeo, called ‘Coolie Boy’, Roy Anthony Sewnarine and Vishal Seecharan called “Markie. The panel spent approximately two hours deliberating on the verdict.
The four were on trial before Justice Navindra Singh at the High Court in Georgetown, for the murder of 68-year-old Budhia, also called ‘Ronui’.
According to the facts presented during the trial, the four men all residents of Sea Dam Herstelling, East Bank Demerara, had allegedly broken into and entered the Conservancy Dam, Canal Number Two, West Bank Demerara dwelling house of the elderly woman, then robbed and terrorized occupants.
At least eight witnesses testified. Among the witnesses was Basmattie Rampersaud, the dead woman’s daughter who was at the time of the incident, living there with her 13-year-old daughter.
Rampersaud recalled that the thieves broke into her house and made off with more than a million dollars in cash and jewellery. She said that the bandits bound the occupants of the house, all women, including her elderly mother, using duct tape. The woman said that the perpetrators not only robbed and terrorised her elderly mother, but that she was killed in the process.
In addition, one of the accused (Sookdeo) had admitted to committing the crime in his caution statement. Sookdeo detailed that he, “Nigel, Markie and Roy,” had planned and carried out the robbery which took place on October 20, 2008.
Sookdeo had told police investigators that he and his colleagues had hired a car at Herstelling, East Bank Demerara and travelled to Canal Number Two, West Bank Demerara, where they broke into the house and “tied up the old lady” and other occupants of the one-flat building before robbing them of cash and jewelery.
However, while leading their defence on Tuesday, the accused who were represented by Attorneys-at-Law Raymond Ali and Huckumchand Parag in association with Sonia Parag, claimed that they were arrested and taken to various police stations, beaten, threatened and coerced into signing statements pertaining to the matter.
In her initial statement to the police the prosecution’s main eyewitness (Rampersaud) said that three men had entered her home on the night that her mother was killed. Two were of African descent and one of East Indian descent. She said that she recognized the latter as “Basho,” a man that she had known all her life.
The statement was disclosed by the Prosecution since it was fundamentally different from the evidence the witness had provided to the Magistrate’s Court, in which the four accused were implicated.
The court subsequently learnt that the man (Basho) was initially arrested for the crime, but he only spent seven months in custody before he was released. The four accused were later arrested for the robbery/murder.
At the trial the woman explained the reason for the change in her statement. She said that she was terrified since three men had threatened her with a gun. They reportedly said that they would return to her home, rape and murder her 13-year- old daughter and kill her just like what they had done to her mother.
Rampersaud wept quietly as the verdicts were announced yesterday. Relatives of the accused could be heard expressing praise to the Almighty.
One of the accused (Sookram) thanked the court for the verdict and whispered “God is good,” before scampering out the courtroom.
All four men had been acquitted of the charge; the Judge told the men that they were free to leave; Seecharan was however, remanded into custody pending trial for a similar matter.
(Rehanna Ramsay)