Taxi driver twice set free on murder charge

A New Amsterdam taxi driver has been set free on a murder charge for the second time. Following a no-case submission by Attorney Marceline Bacchus, murder accused Sevak Rampersaud had his case dismissed by Magistrate Adela Nagamootoo when he appeared before her on Friday at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court.
Rampersaud, called Suresh Persaud, 37, of 54 Stanleytown, New Amsterdam, Berbice, was charged in September 2011 with the murder of his paramour, Verone Patoir, on May 20, 2011.

The matter was again before the magistrate after she discharged it on May 7, 2012. By way of letter dated July 13, 2012, Magistrate Nagamootoo was ordered to reopen the Preliminary Inquiry (PI) and to take additional evidence from two neighbours, Nicola Alexander and Juliet Agard.
That was done of May 3, following which Bacchus presented written submissions, arguing that the evidence of the two additional witnesses did not enhance the prosecution’s case in any way and that there was still no prima facie case to call on the defence to answer the charge.
Police Prosecutor Phillip Sheriff said there was enough evidence but could not convince the magistrate, who dismissed the case on the grounds that the prosecution failed to present a case to the court.
Patoir, 40, a mother of three of Lot 42, Mudflat, Stanleytown, New Amsterdam, was allegedly involved in an abusive relationship and was allegedly brutally murdered by her paramour at her residence.
She was originally from an Amerindian settlement in Region 10. Over a dozen persons testified on behalf of the prosecution, including the daughters of the accused.
It was understood that either a heavy or sharp object was used to bludgeon the woman’s head and slit her throat. Investigators had reportedly recovered some implements, including a bloodied knife from the crime scene.
A post-mortem by Dr Vivekananda Brijmohan at the New Amsterdam Hospital gave the cause of death as shock and haemorrhage due to multiple injuries and a fractured skull.
Rampersaud was arrested and locked up for a number of days soon after the crime was committed. A motion of Habeas Corpus was filed by Bacchus in the High Court, and the man was released soon after on Gy$ 200,000 station bail.
A file was subsequently prepared and sent to the office of the DPP, which advised that the man be charged with the capital offence. He was charged almost four months after.
One of Patoir’s daughters had returned home from school and discovered the bloodied body of her mother in the hallway of their home at 42 Mudflat, Stanleytown, New Amsterdam.
She had told the media then that upon leaving home on the day in question, she saw the accused in his hire car with some other persons inside, parked a short distance away.
The girl had returned home around 14: 55h, to find the back door ajar and on entering the house, she saw her mother’s bloodied body. Her face was battered, the hair from her head was uprooted, revealing the scalp, and her throat was slit.
A bloodied rolling pin was also removed from the scene.