Justice Navindra Singh yesterday sentenced Delon Gordon, the man who killed his partner by setting her afire in their Better Hope, East Coast Demerara home, to 83 years in jail, with a minimum of 50 years to be served before the possibility of parole.
Gordon was charged with murdering Natasha Johnson in 2011, after the mother of three succumbed in hospital to the burns she sustained in the fire.
Gordon set the house on fire with himself and Johnson and their one-year-old child in it. Johnson’s two other children were also locked in the house.
Gordon had been found guilty of the murder on October 15 by the 12-member jury.
His lawyer Raymond Ali yesterday begged the judge to be lenient with his client
and to consider that he came from a broken background.
Senior state attorney Judith Gildharie-Mursalin, on the other hand, told Justice Singh that Gordon showed no remorse for his actions or even concern for his child, who was also in the house. “He was more concerned about bad mouthing Natasha,” she said, while adding that Gordon had referred to his wife as a “lady of the night.”
She asked Justice Singh to also remember Natasha Johnson and the brutal manner in which she was killed. She said Gordon harboured ill feelings for Johnson before finally killing her.
Justice Singh had ordered the preparation of a probation report before sentencing. Yesterday, under cross-examination by Gildharie-Mursalin, Probation Officer Arlene Matthew admitted that she did not check the Sparendaam Police Station files for reports that were filed by Johnson about physical abuse. Johnson had made several reports during the week in which she was killed. Matthew was also questioned as to why she did not indicate in her report that Gordon was charged with stabbing a fellow inmate or that all of Johnson’s children were separated after her death.
Gildharie-Mursalin then asked her if she had prepared a balanced report while pointing out that a probation report should assist the court.
Delivering his sentence, Justice Singh informed Gordon that he would start his sentence at 60 years but he would have to make some adjustments since this case was one of the most brutal ones he has dealt with.
He added five years for premeditation, 10 years for exceptional brutality, six years because it was domestic abuse, and five years because children were in the house. Three years were deducted from the sentence for the time spent in prison.
Gordon remained emotionless when Justice Singh declared that he was sentenced to 83 years in prison. Johnson’s family rushed to Gildharie-Mursalin and embraced her, crying with joy. They were crying as the judge left the bench and Gordon was led away by policemen to a prisoner’s van.
He is expected to serve a minimum of 50 years before he is eligible for parole.
“Delon Gordon made her a human torch. She was abused, threatened and finally murdered by the man she loved. Only a sick, diabolical mind could light a woman afire with three little children [in the house]. Tell me, how a man who loved her could hurt her so,” Gildharie-Mursalin had told the jury before the verdict on October 15.
Fourteen witnesses testified during the trial, including one who stated that Gordon left the house to buy bread and when he returned he found himself locked him out.
The witness testified that Gordon climbed through a window, went into the kitchen and emptied kerosene into a bowl. The witness stated that Gordon then carried the bowl into the bedroom and tossed it on Johnson before he threw a lighter on her.
Johnson’s neighbour Mellissa Fraser testified that Johnson ran out of the house covered in flames. She stated that “flesh was falling from her body” as she ran to her and ran down the street, screaming, “Delon! Why you do this to me!”
