Almost three years after 84-year-old businessman Harold Rachpaul was found murdered in his Robb Street home, his accused murderer was yesterday committed to stand trial in the High Court.
Less than two weeks after the preliminary inquiry (PI) into the charge against him, Orin Kevin Roberts was told by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry that a prima facie case had been made out against him.
The decision to commit him to stand trial for the murder followed the testimonies of 10 witnesses. Among them were the dead man’s son and grandson along with a number of police officers.
Two police witnesses testified before the conclusion of the PI yesterday at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts and Roberts cross-examined them in the absence of his lawyer, George Thomas. He later elected to remain silent when presented with the opportunity to either present a sworn or unsworn statement or keep quiet.
As the accused clutched his Bible, it was announced that a prima facie case had been established against him, with enough evidence for him to stand trial for the 2011 murder.
Following the decision, Roberts was seen having an intense conversation from the prisoners’ dock with his lawyer, who eventually appeared before the committal.
Roberts will make his next appearance during the October session of the High Court.
The body of Harold Rachpaul was discovered on August 19, 2011 in his Robb Street home located behind his popular pharmacy.
The man’s body had been found by his son and grandson, lying bound and gagged in two bed sheets held together by metallic cord, next to his bed.
A vault in the pharmacy had been opened and whatever money had been in it at the time had been stolen.
A subsequent post-mortem examination determined Rachpaul’s cause of death as suffocation.
The murder had seemed like a cold case until March of this year when Roberts, a minibus conductor, appeared before the courts charged with murdering Rachpaul.
Michael Grant, who had been prosecuting the matter at the time, had informed the court that Roberts had been apprehended due to the Automated Fingerprint Identification System now being used by the Guyana Police Force.
