Man pleads guilty to manslaughter

Just over a week after the April Demerara Assizes opened, the first trial commenced on Wednesday and after approximately one hour into the hearing, the matter was adjourned for sentencing.

Wilson Chan, 62, appeared in Court Five of the Supreme Court for the commencement of the trial into the murder charge against him. The matter was called before Justice Franklyn Holder, who is one of the two judges presiding over the April Demerara Assizes.

The indictable charge against Chan stated that between September 10 and October 17, 2007, he murdered Louise Loretta Ramessar, age 44. The first hearing of the trial took an unforeseen turn when the defence, led by Attorney Satyesh Kissoon, proposed a guilty plea to the lesser count of the offence of murder, which is manslaughter.

The prosecution, led by special prosecutor Senior State Counsel Zamilla Ally in association with Diana Kaulesar, had no objections to the defence’s proposition. The charge was reread to the accused after which he pleaded not guilty to the offence of murder and guilty to manslaughter. The foreman of the jury panel informed the court that they found the accused not guilty of the murder offence and found him guilty for manslaughter.

According to the prosecutor, the deceased had lived in Wismar, Linden, and shared a child with the accused. At the time of the incident, they were separated.

On September 10, someone made a report at the Wismar Police Station, and as a result, an officer went to the deceased home. When he knocked on the door, a female voice told him that she cannot come to the door and he should come in. The officer then heard the said voice saying that “arite I gon drink it” followed by a male voice saying “yuh ga drink it now”.

The officer then picked the door lock and went into a bedroom where he saw the accused over the deceased’s body forcing her to drink a liquid from a cup. The accused then took a knife and stabbed the woman; this was witnessed by the officer who pulled out his firearm, ordering the man to lie on the ground and he complied.

The officer then raised an alarm and was assisted in taking the woman to McKenzie Hospital. The accused was arrested and charged with attempt to commit murder, however the woman subsequently died on October 13 and a post mortem was conducted on her remains.

Further investigations were carried out, leading to the accused being further charged with the offence of murder. Attorney Kissoon made an application for a probation report to be made.

The matter was adjourned pending sentencing on April 30; however the matter will be called on April 27 for probation report.