A man was on Wednesday sentenced to death for the 2006 murder of a taxi driver, while his co-accused is currently completing a seven-year sentence after turning state’s evidence.
Bert Lancaster was found guilty of the murder of 22-year-old Deonarine Sukhdeo by a 12-member jury in the court of Justice Dawn Gregory. After accepting a plea bargain agreement, co-accused Daywan Kawal served as a witness for the prosecution against Lancaster.
Lancaster, called Moses and Kawal, called Avinash, of Third and Nile streets, Grove, East Bank Demerara were indicted for the murder of Sukhdeo. The court heard the sometime between the 19 and 26 of April, 2006 Kawal and Lancaster were involved in the unlawful killing of Sukhdeo.
In May 2010, Kawal became the first defendant to sign a plea bargain agreement under which he became eligible for a lighter sentence in return for testifying against Lancaster.
As part of the conditions in the plea bargaining agreement, Kawal admitted that he was involved in the killing but attributed the stab wounds which caused Sukhdeo’s death to Lancaster. In return for his testimony, it was decided upon that he receives six to eight years in prison. He was given seven years; two years and nine months of the sentence he will serve at the Mazaruni Maximum Security Prison.
It was reported that on the morning of April 19, 2006, Sukhdeo left his Block X, Section B, Diamond New Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara home and failed to return.
His body was discovered in a clump of bushes a short distance from his car, HB 3236, on a trail in Kuru Kuru, just off the Soesdyke/Linden highway. The body was in a state of decomposition.
Kawal was arrested on April 24 following investigations. It was he who took police to the location where Sukhdeo’s body was found. He gave a written caution statement to police on April 25 but did not admit to killing Sukhdeo. Kawal previously indicated that they had hired Sukhdeo to take them to the junction and the car had become stuck in the sand. A witness had reported seeing Sukhdeo in the company of Kawal and Lancaster.
Later, Kawal took police to his Grove home where he handed over the documents for Sukhdeo’s vehicle. He was also in possession of the man’s driver’s licence. Kawal had blamed the other accused for the four stab wounds which resulted in Sukhdeo’s death.
On April, 2010, almost four years after the taxi driver’s murder, Kawal’s attorney, Peter Hugh, wrote to the DPP proposing a plea bargain for his client.
There were ten witnesses at the trial, including the victim’s father, brother, Detective Corporal Herbert Henry, Sergeant Ganesham John, Superintendent Trevor Reid, Superintendent Errol Watts, Officer Suraj Singh and Pathologist Nehaul Singh.
As the matter concluded, the deceased’s parents, relatives, neighbours and friends, who had sat through the day’s proceedings, were seen in an emotional state, with his mother breaking down into tears.
