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Sophia wife-killer jailed for 19 years
Kaieteur News – Wazim Perreira, formerly of North Sophia, Greater Georgetown was on Monday handed a 19 year jail sentence for the murder of his common-law wife, Olivia DeFreitas, whom he had set on fire.
Murdered: Olivia DeFreitas
Confessed killer: Wazim Perreira
On October 10, 2019, Pereira reportedly visited Defreitas at her home and requested to speak with her. However, when the woman refused, he went away and subsequently returned with a container containing gasoline, that he threw on the woman and set her afire.
The woman’s loud screams reportedly alerted neighbours, who ran to her rescue. The woman was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), where she was admitted and treated for second-degree burns to her face, chest, abdomen and back.
She, however, succumbed to her injuries just over a week later.
In handing down the sentence on October 16, 2023, High Court Judge Simone Morris-Ramlall looked at, among other things, the severity of the injuries the 24-year-old woman sustained and the fact that the murder was a premeditated act carried out in front of the woman’s then-underage brother.
Lamenting the impact the woman’s death has had and continues to have on her family, Justice Morris-Ramlall said, “Her minor children have now lost the care of both of their parents. They have been permanently deprived of the care of their mother.”
In all the circumstances of the case, the judge found 19 years, minus the time served on remand, to be an appropriate punishment.
Perreira, 31, with whom De Freitas had two children, was originally indicted for the capital offence of murder and opted to plead guilty as charged upon his arraignment last month.
Last Thursday, State Counsel, Madana Rampersaud told the Court that Perriera attacked his wife with the intention of seriously harming her. The lawyer noted that the woman was admitted to GPHC and treated for second-degree burns to her face, chest, abdomen, and back.
When DeFreitas was admitted to the hospital, Perreira had been slapped with an attempted murder charge; but after she died, the charge against him was upgraded to murder.
The evidence in the case unequivocally demonstrates that Perriera, by his acts, wanted to kill the woman or seriously hurt her, Prosecutor Rampersaud had submitted.
This is “cold-blooded murder”, Rampersaud emphasised, as he added that Perriera had set the woman on fire in full view of her then 14-year-old brother.
The prosecutor noted that the case was one related to the incidence of domestic violence.
Specifically, Rampersaud mentioned that more women who have left abusive relationships or have threatened to leave have been killed, and as such, a sentence that would serve as a deterrent to would-be offenders is warranted.
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- Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Greater Georgetown, murdered, North Sophia, Olivia DeFreitas
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