Murder accused stabbed at city court

Feb 07, 2017 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

…after he and four others are committed to stand trial for Professor’s killing

Eighteen-year-old Timothy Paul Chance was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital just after

MURDERED: Professor Pairadeau Mars

noon yesterday, after he was stabbed to the abdomen as he was making his way to the Police Outpost at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
The stabbing occurred minutes after Chance and four co-accused (two male and two female) – two of whom are juveniles – were committed to stand trial in the High Court for allegedly killing Professor Pairadeau Mars on May 12, 2016 at Prashad Nagar, Georgetown.
Chance was stabbed after he was reportedly accosted by the two male accused during which time, one of them dealt him a stab to the belly with an improvised ice pick.
Chance collapsed to the ground and had to be assisted by police ranks, who placed him to sit on a bench outside the police outpost. His attacker was placed on lockdown.
A Guyana Fire Service ambulance was summoned immediately.
A few minutes later, several armed policemen arrived at the court house.
According to reports, there has been an ongoing feud between Chance and the two co-accused.
A source said that the duo have been accusing Chance of leaking information to police, which led to their arrest. The two men have been reportedly planning to harm Chance if they were not freed of the murder charge.
Meanwhile, Chance’s mother wailed uncontrollably as she pleaded with ranks to see her son, who appeared to be in pain. Three policewomen had to be called in to restrain the aggrieved mother who was warned to desist from interrupting court proceedings.
The mother was eventually allowed to see her injured son before he was escorted by police ranks and placed in the ambulance. She accompanied her son on the journey.

MURDER ACCUSED: Timothy Paul Chance

Earlier in the morning, Magistrate Leron Daly ruled that she would admit caution statements given by the five murder accused into evidence after ruling that the court is of the opinion that they were freely and voluntarily made. Thereafter, she informed the accused that a prima facie case had been established against them for the offence and she committed them to stand trial in the High Court at the next practicable sitting of the Demerara Assizes.
The Preliminary Inquiry (PI) into the murder had just concluded.
According to reports, Professor Pairadeau Mars also known as ‘Perry’, a remigrant from the United States of America, was found slumped in a chair in the study room of his Lot 395 Bissessar Street, Prashad Nagar home. The hands and feet of the 75-year-old man were bound together with duct-tape, while duct-tape was also wrapped around his mouth.
There were reports that one of the female accused was allegedly known to the professor since she would usually visit his home.
Professor Mars studied History at the University of Guyana. He had specialized in African Studies at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, USA.