Latest update December 4th, 2024 2:40 AM
Killers of South Rd. grannies to serve life in prison
Imran Khan and Stephen Andrews, the two men who admitted to killing 89-year-old Constance Fraser, and 77-year-old Phyllis Caesar, were yesterday sentenced to life in prison for the crimes, with the possibility of parole after serving 35 years.
Life in prison: Stephen Andrews
Life in prison: Imran Khan
The two women’s bound and gagged bodies were found at their Lot 243 Albert Street and South Road, Georgetown home.
Initially indicted for murder, Khan and Andrews, both of Albouystown, Georgetown, opted to plead guilty to manslaughter after consulting with their counsel. They admitted to killing Fraser and Caesar between October 2 and October 3, 2017.
According to State Prosecutor Abigail Gibbs, Khan and his co-accused broke into the pensioners’ home which they ransacked in pursuit of money and other valuables. Not satisfied, Prosecutor Gibbs said that the men then proceeded to bind the women’s feet before placing pieces of cloth into their mouths. They then strangled the two pensioners, Prosecutor Gibbs added.
Both Fraser and Caesar were discovered lifeless in their home by members of their church, the South Road Full Gospel Assembly, after efforts to contact them were futile.
Autopsy reports revealed that the women both died of asphyxiation, due to suffocation and manual strangulation, compounded by trauma to the head.
Another man, Phillip Suffrien of Hunter Street, Albouystown, Georgetown, was also charged for murdering the elderly women. However, he is yet to appear before a Judge.
During their sentencing hearing yesterday, Margaret Gittens, the daughter of Fraser, told the court that her mother’s death has taken a toll on their family. In fact, she said that her sister, who was still grieving, passed away shortly after their mother’s demise.
MURDERED: Phyllis Caesar and Constance Fraser
Gittens further went on to describe Khan and Andrews as “cowardly murderers’’ who accepted a plea to the lesser offence as they did not want to face the full brunt of the law. According to the woman, doctors told her that her mother would have lived a long and healthy life. But this, she said, was snatched away by the two killers whom she labelled ‘rascals.’
Caesar’s sister, Joan, told the court that the two women were cousins who devoted their lives to serving God. She said that the women were the light of their family.
During a plea in mitigation, Khan and Andrews’s lawyer, Keoma Griffith asked the court to consider that his client were not fortunate to have a father figure in their lives, to guide and teach them right from wrong.
Griffith said that his clients were pressured by their peers to break into the woman’s home, and at the time of doing so were facing serious financial difficulties since they were unemployed. Quoting a scripture from the Bible, Griffith intimated that God forgives people for their sins.
Both Khan and Andrews were given an opportunity to address the court, which was packed with family members of the two deceased. The killers said they were sorry for what happened and begged for forgiveness. Andrews, on the other hand, expressed that the killings still haunts him; he is having sleepless nights.
Reciting John 10:10, Prosecutor Gibbs said, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal and to kill, and to destroy…’’ The Prosecutor asked the court to consider the circumstances under which the two pensioners died.
She told the court that from all accounts, Khan and Andrews were experienced in breaking into homes, as they admitted in a caution statement to breaking into the women’s home prior and carting off items.
Police records would reveal that Andrews was previously charged, but was acquitted in 2013, of the May 18, 2008 murder of 70-year-old Dulcie Trim called ‘Teacher’ whose home was broken into at Friendship, East Coast Demerara.
Reports would show that the elderly woman was leaving her home for church when she was attacked and punched to the ground by two men who robbed her of $13,000 before setting her home on fire with pepper spray and methylated spirits. Her cause of death was given as smoke inhalation and burns.
Andrews previously served three years’ imprisonment on a charge of break and enter and larceny.
Khan had served 18 months in jail for simple larceny and three years for escaping from lawful custody. Justice Sandil Kissoon in imposing the life sentence considered the manner in which the two women were killed, the killers’ criminal records, among other factors.
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