Man jailed for 70 years, brother freed for 2009 Mon Repos murder

It was an atmosphere of mixed emotions among family members of the Rampersaud brothers in court last Thursday, as one of them was freed while the other was sentenced to years for the murder of a man at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara back in 2008. Brothers, Lloyd “Lloydee” and Roy “Roy Patrick” or “Royee” Rampersaud were indicted with the murder of 41-year-old Munilall Mangru called “Boy” between February 22 and 24, 2009 at the Mon Repos/Triumph Bridge, East Coast Demerara.

Mangru, called “Boyo” of Lot 134 Mon Repos, was discovered under the bridge shortly before 09:00h on February 24, 2009, by a group of men who were fishing in the area. At the time of his discovery, the man was fully clothed and his body bore marks of violence. His bicycle was found a short distance away.
Mangru was last seen two days before his body was found. The man used to work as a labourer in the area, and as far as they knew, he was not a steady drinker and had no problems with anyone. A post-mortem examination revealed that the man died from haemorrhage of the brain due to blunt trauma.
The trial against the brothers began on February 21 when the prosecution, led by state counsels, Konyo Sandiford-Thompson and Dhanika Singh, made their opening addresses before the jury.
The prosecutor presented seven witnesses throughout their trial and had the deposition evidence of Shaheed Baksh read to the court. Baksh called “Towlie” was also charged with Mangru’s murder; however, he was acquitted of the offence.
The prosecution’s case relied upon a confrontation held between the two brothers during which Roy disclosed that Lloyd told him that he and “Towlie” were drinking under the bridge with “Boy” when they beat him up and took away Gy$40,000; however Lloyd maintained his innocence throughout the trial.
The prosecution subsequently closed their case last Monday, after which the accused were called upon to lead their defence, which they did by giving unsworn statements from the dock. The brothers were represented by Attorney Euclin Gomes, who then made his closing arguments.
On the following day, the prosecution took their turn to make their final arguments, after which Justice Singh summed up all of the evidence presented throughout the trial to the jury. The process lasted just over two hours after which the jury retired to deliberate on a verdict.
After spending over three hours in the jury room, the panel returned seeking further directions on the statements given by the accused. They back in to further deliberate and emerged about 30 minutes later with their verdicts.
The jury found Lloyd guilty of murder and Roy not guilty of same. Both verdicts were unanimous. Roy whispered something to his brother before he was set free and walked out of court.
Meanwhile, before sentencing was imposed on Lloyd, he told the court, “I’m just innocent, that’s all.” His attorney then asked for mercy, stating that the time his client spent incarcerated should be taken into consideration. He further stated that the death penalty should not be imposed on his client since the law in Guyana no longer practices that penalty.
Justice Singh in his ruling explained that he does not impose the death penalty since it is not longer mandatory and in his mind, it no longer serves a purpose. He informed the court that his base sentence for murder is 60 years, plus additional years for aggravating factors. The judge told Lloyd he found that his actions were “brutal and deliberate”; hence, he sentenced the 36-year-old man to 70 years imprisonment.