A second man said to be involved in the robbery and murder of Clifford Peters, the chief security officer of Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL), was remanded to prison yesterday when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.
The expectant father, Paul James, 28, of 43 Joseph Pollydore Street, Lodge, was informed as he stood in the dock of the court in handcuffs that he was not required to plead to the indictable charge of murder.
It is alleged that on May 4, James was a member of the gang of men who murdered Peters who was on an operation removing illegal electricity connections in the Lamaha Park squatting area.
Police Prosecutor Denise Griffith had requested that the unrepresented James be remanded to prison and that he return to court on Friday when the first person who had been charged for the murder will also appear.
The magistrate subsequently granted the prosecutor’s request.
Arnim Griffith was the first person charged with the murder of Peters.
He had appeared last month before Magistrate Robertson who read the indictable charge of murder to him to which he was not required to enter a plea.
His lawyer Basil Williams had told the court that his client was arrested a few days before the court appearance for allegedly riding his uncle’s motorcycle without the relevant documents at the time.
He said that when his client got to the station, he was told that he was accused of a robbery under arms. He had said that his client had been in the lock-ups for over 72 hours and had been placed on an identification parade where he was allegedly fingered from among 14 others for the murder of Peters.
Williams had further stated that the uncle had even taken the motorcycle documents to the police station to prove Griffith’s innocence in the robbery under arms case but he was never released.
Griffith then stated that the issues highlighted by Williams were merely part of his defence and differed from her facts. She said while the defendant was being arrested, the police informed him about the murder he was accused of being involved in. She said he was never arrested for any robbery under arms.
Griffith was later remanded to prison and he will return to court on Friday with James.
Peters of Essequibo Street, Lamaha Springs (Joint Services Housing Scheme), died shortly after one of two armed men shot him in the neck, chest and about his body. He was rushed to the Davis Memorial Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.
Police in a press statement had said they were investigating the murder, which occurred while Peters and other GPL personnel were engaged in the removal of illegal electricity connections.
Two men had reportedly approached linesman Allan Savory. An argument developed and Savory called out to Peters who intervened and was shot multiple times by one of the men. The men, according to the police, escaped with Peters’ licensed revolver.
A senior police source had said that the motive of the attack was not robbery.
