‘Big Foot’ gets 33 years for killing South Central Hotel owner

May 03, 2018 News

Murdered : Hotel owner Joseph Jagdeo.

Bryan Leitch, called “Big Foot’, of Diamond, East Bank Demerara, was yesterday sentenced to 33 years for manslaughter. He was convicted for killing hotel owner, Joseph Jagdeo.
The sentence was handed down by Justice Sandil Kissoon at the High court following the presentation of a probation report. The report outlined that the accused came from a single parent home; his mother being the sole bread winner.
Leitch is said to have gravitated to crime at the early stage of his life, this resulted in him entering the criminal justice system. As a result, he was sentenced to serve time at the New Opportunity Corps, (NOC) in Essequibo.
According to the report, after his release from the NOC, Leitch tried his hands at several skilled jobs but soon returned his wrongdoings.
Before the sentence could be handed down, Attorney -at -law Lawrence Harris in a plea of mitigation asked the Court to consider his client’s “hard upbringing” as well as the fact that he is quite a young person.
“He is only 24 years old; he has his whole life ahead of him…I am asking the court to consider the time spent in prison prior to trial and in handing down the sentence to temper justice with mercy.”
In calculating the sentence, Justice Kissoon started with a base of 30 years. He deducted five years for the time the man would have spent on remand.
However, three years was added because of Leitch’s criminal record and five years was added for cruelty used in the commission of crime; the victim is said to have died as result of strangulation.
The Court therefore ruled that Leitch will serve 33 years in prison for killing the proprietor of South Central Hotel.
Last month Leitch, also called ‘Big Foot’, was convicted of manslaughter. He had been originally indicted for murder. He was found not guilty of murder.
Leitch had originally denied the charges stating, “I don’t know anything about any murder. I did not kill anyone.”
The indictment against Leitch was that between November 13 and November 14, 2013, at the South Central Hotel, he murdered Jagdeo, called ‘Joey’.
Leitch had retained Attorneys-at-law Hewley Griffith and Harris to represent him. State Prosecutors Mandel Moore and Lisa Cave presented the case against him.
According to the information provided by the Court on November 13, 2013 Leitch and a female companion had rented a room at the hotel.
During that time, Jagdeo misplaced his cellular phone and confronted Leitch. After Jagdeo’s employees did not see him the following day, they became concerned about his whereabouts and forced their way into his room where they were greeted by his motionless body.
Police ranks were later summoned to the scene and Leitch was later arrested and charged for the killing.

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