Attempted murder trial commences for Stafrei Alexander

TIMES INT'L

Stafrei Alexander, one of the infamous set of prisoners who had fled the Camp Street Penitentiary in the midst of an inferno earlier this year, was on Tuesday arraigned in the High Court for the attempted murder of Curtis Thom, who was shot hours after his daughter’s christening on March 23, 2015.

Recaptured Camp Street
prisoner Stafrei Alexander

The Prosecution alleges that on the day in question, at Lot 138 Laing Avenue, Georgetown, Alexander discharged a loaded firearm at Thom in a bid to murder him.
Alexander entered a not guilty plea, and Prosecutor Tiffini Lyken later addressed the empanelled 12-member jury in the presence of presiding Justice Brassington Reynolds on the State’s facts, detailing how Alexander had allegedly executed the act.
Lyken told the court that Thom and Alexander were known to each other, as they had grown up in Laing Avenue, but were not friends. According to the State, after the christening, Thom was feeding his dogs in the early hours of March 23, 2015. Based on his beliefs, he proceeded to walk into his home backwards, when Alexander mumbled remarks and pointed a gun at him. Thom was shot twice, and was hospitalised for seven weeks, during which he obtained surgery to correct his injuries.
Detective Constable Jason Kyte of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ruimveldt Police Station was the first witness to testify in this trial.
Stafrei Alexander, who is also known as Stafrei Hopkinson Alexander was apprehended in late July after a special operation in Berbice. This came weeks after he had fled the Camp Street Penitentiary around the same time when several prisoners, including death row inmate and Bartica mass killer Mark Royden “Smallie” Williams and now dead former Policeman and prisoner Uree Varswyck, had fled.
At the time of his arrest, Alexander was said to have been receiving medical attention for an existing wound. Alexander had previously fled lawful custody for six months before finally being recaptured at Kurupukari Crossing, Rupununi, Region Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo) in May 2016.

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