Accused found not guilty of Sophia shopkeeper’s murder

Oct 15, 2020 News

Freed: Odel Roberts.

Kaieteur News – Odel Roberts, who was charged in relation to the 2015 murder of Sophia shopkeeper, Shawn Anys was yesterday freed of the charge after a jury found him not guilty of the offence. Roberts called ‘Gully Side’ of ‘C’ Field Sophia; Greater Georgetown faced a trial for murder before Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry and a mixed 12- member jury.
Anys was shot and killed during the course of a robbery on May 1, 2015 at his ‘D’ Field, Sophia residence where he owned and managed a small grocery shop. He was confronted by the bandits just before 23:00 hours on the night of the incident.
The man was at home when he heard his dogs barking and decided to venture out of the house to investigate when he was confronted by two armed men who forced him into the house and shot him while demanding money and valuables.
The gunmen made off with $40,000 in cash along with jewellery. Anys was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

DEAD: Sophia shopkeeper, Shawn Anys.

On Monday, following the cross-examination of police witness Suraj Singh, State Counsel Tiffini Lyken told the Court that the prosecution has exhausted its witnesses as two other persons who were listed to testify in the murder trial could not be reached, despite several attempts to the contact them.
Lyken nonetheless implored members of the jury not to let the accused walk free when he should be held culpable for the murder of the hardworking shopkeeper who was killed in cold blood.
However, defence attorney, Damien Da Silva urged the jury not to convict Roberts based on the weak, unreliable evidence of one witness. According to the lawyer, the only substantial evidence in the case was that of Officer Suraj Singh.
The lawyer pointed out though that Singh’s evidence could be easily questioned. “This is an officer who admitted that he did not inform the accused of his right to an attorney at the time of his arrest. His evidence could be described as weak and unreliable at best,” the lawyer told the panel in his closing presentation.
Da Silva had previously cross-examined Singh about his involvement in the murder investigation. The lawyer had asked the Officer about his initial interaction with his client.
Da Silva suggested that detective Singh had already formed an opinion about his client since when he first met him (Roberts); he was already serving time in prison for another offence.
Singh had vehemently denied the suggestion. He said that he had no preconceived notions about the accused at the time of his arrest.
The officer instead claimed that he cautioned the accused and questioned him about the incident, which led to the death of the Sophia shopkeeper. The policeman recalled too that Roberts denied any involvement in the incident.
“He said, ‘Boss, I ain’t know nothing about it’,” Singh recalled.
The policeman also told the court that Roberts made certain admissions in relation to incident during a confrontation with a female. He however admitted that he made no audio or video record of the confrontation.