Closing arguments presented in Montrose granny murder trial

Feb 26, 2019 News

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The trial of Colin Allen, who is accused of the August 1, 2015 murder of 77-year-old Danrasie Ganesh, is in its home stretch, with trial Judge Navindra Singh giving a summation of the evidence yesterday morning before sending the 12-person jury to deliberate on a verdict.
State Prosecutors Tuanna Harding and Teriq Mohamed who are seeking to convict 26-year-old Allen, also known as ‘Colis Williams’ and ‘Bonus’, in closing arguments to the jury yesterday, said that he committed the crime and was lying to cover his tracks.
Allen has pleaded not guilty to the indictment which alleged that on August 1, 2015 in the county of Demerara, he murdered Ganesh, also known as, ‘Carmen’.
The murder accused is being represented by Attorney-at-Law Rachael Bakker. Following the empanelling of the jury last week Tuesday, the prosecution gave opening remarks during which it told the court that Ganesh lived alone at Lot 121 Montrose, East Coast Demerara.
The prosecution contended that on the day in question, Ganesh was visited by an unwanted guest, Allen, who was unknown to her.
According to the prosecution, Allen entered the woman’s house as though he knew her, and murdered her. During closing arguments, the prosecution argued that the witnesses called by Allen, including his mother and sister, were those of convenience since they came and lied to the court.
The prosecutor added that Allen was caught murdering the elderly woman on CCTV cameras that were installed at her home. Though the alleged murder weapon was not tendered into evidence during the trial, Prosecutor Harding submitted to the jury that it was not compulsory that one be produced.
Apart from the CCTV footage, Prosecutor Harding told the jury to be reminded that Allen confessed to the killing of the elderly woman in a caution statement which was ruled admissible and admitted into evidence.
However, Allen’s lawyer, Bakker, contended that the surveillance footage was of bad quality and that her client was coerced into giving the caution statement.
According to Bakker, the prosecution was selective in the evidence they brought to the court. She pointed out that though fingerprints were removed from the crime scene, no forensic evidence in that regard was tendered by the prosecution.
Bakker submitted that the evidence produced by the prosecution was insufficient and cannot yield a conviction.
During the trial, Police Sergeant Detective Rodwell Sarrabo testified to taking a 14-page caution statement from Allen.
According to the police witness, the statement was taken at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown and recorded on camera. During the taking of the statement, the court heard from Sergeant Sarrabo, that the murder accused recalled how he killed the home alone elderly woman; who sent him to kill the woman; and how much money he was paid.
During the trial, Basmattie Ganesh, the daughter of the deceased, told the court that she lived a few streets away from her mother at Lot 188 Montrose, East Coast Demerara.
The witness said that her mother lived alone and that she was taking care of the property for some neighbours who had migrated from Guyana. Further in her testimony, the daughter said that she last saw her mother alive on July 31, 2015. On that day, she said, she gave her channa to eat.
She added that some time during the morning of August 1, 2015, she passed her mother’s house to go to the market and observed the kitchen window, which would normally be opened, locked. She said that she made nothing of the observation and went looking for her mother at the market, which she frequents.
She did not find her mother. Basmattie said that she later received a call from one of her mother’s neighbours who asked of her to check on her mother since she was not seen cleaning the yard which is something she would normally do.
The woman told the court that she rushed over to her mother’s house where she saw a key stuck in the padlock to the front gate.
As a result, she said that her brother and nephew jumped over the gate to her mother’s yard from where they entered the house through a side door that was left opened. At this stage, Basmattie became emotional and starting sobbing.
She recalled how she found her mother lying motionless in a pool of blood inside the kitchen with a wound to her head.
The police were summoned, she added. Once there, she stated that police ranks inquired of her if her mother was having problems with anyone and she replied in the affirmative. According to the witness, her mother had been involved in a land issue with some neighbours, but that matter was settled a long time ago by the courts.
Further, she added that police ranks also inquired of her if the property had camera and she told them “yes.” The ranks went to the upper flat of the building where they reviewed CCTV footage from which she saw the “bandit’s foot”, she said she cried after seeing this and immediately ran downstairs.
Rex Mangru, an engineer, and neighbour of Danrasie, also testified. The man who told the court he resides at Lot 150 Montrose, East Coast Demerara testified to knowing the deceased for about 20 years. According to him, she was his western neighbour.
Mangru told the court that on August 1, 2015 around 06:00hrs, he came out to clean his yard and did not notice Danrasie who would normally be out earlier cleaning her yard also.
He said that a few hours elapsed and after not seeing or hearing from her, he phoned her daughter and asked her to check on her mother who was not responding to neighbours who had been calling out for her.
According to the witness, the woman’s daughter came over and the two of them along with other relatives rushed into the house where they found her lying in a pool of blood inside the kitchen. This trial is being heard at the High Court in Georgetown.

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