Rayon Paddy and Orin Arthur, the two men accused of impersonating cops and erecting a roadblock to stage an almost $1 million robbery, were yesterday also charged with murdering mines commission engineer Trevor Abrams as well as security guard Wilfred Stewart, who was killed during a raid at the Sterling Products Limited (SPL) offices at Providence last year.
Appearing before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court 1, Paddy and Arthur were charged along with another man, Steve Prescod, with the murder of Abrams, who was gunned down along the Little Diamond Public Road, on February 27.
Abrams, 32, of Lot 131 Samatta Point, Grove Housing Scheme, was a Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) engineer and his death was suspected to be a hit that was linked to his work.
Only Paddy and Arthur were charged with the murder of security Wilfred Stewart, who was fatally shot on December 8, 2014, at Providence.
Stewart, 45, of Graham’s Hall, was on duty when a gang stormed the SPL compound. After fatally shooting Stewart and wounding Mario Gohill, 31, an Indian national working as a chemist at SPL, the invading bandits made their way to the accounts department at the SPL Providence complex, where they were met with a locked safe. The men subsequently fled in a waiting car.
No details about the murders were presented yesterday to the court, which was told that investigations into both cases are still not completed.
Paddy was unrepresented, while Arthur was represented by Attorney Sonia Parag and Prescod was represented by attorney Peter Hugh at their arraignment yesterday.
On March 30, Paddy and Arthur were charged with disguising themselves as policemen and robbing three workers of Mohammed’s Poultry Farm of almost $1 million in cash and property after stopping them at the bogus roadblock at Mahaicony.
The workers were travelling to Berbice to drop goods as usual when they came across the roadblock that was allegedly manned by Paddy and Arthur dressed in police uniforms.
It is alleged that the two men stopped the vehicle and ordered the three workers out. Paddy and Arthur were said to have then locked the three men in the back of the vehicle and drove it away. They made a stop somewhere along the Mahaicony road and relieved the men of their personal items and the company’s cash and escaped, it is alleged. The three men, locked in the Canter, pierced a hole in the vehicle and freed themselves.
Paddy and Arthur had been held on March 27, at a house at Diamond, where police say they were allegedly found with eight grammes of cannabis, a gramme of cocaine, 17 .32 rounds of ammunition, 12 live rounds of .32 ammunition, and an unlicensed .32 revolver in their possession.
Paddy, at his previous arraignment, was also separately charged with escaping from police custody at the Georgetown Public Hospital on January 29. At the time he was receiving treatment for a gunshot wound he received from an off-duty police officer during an attempt to rob Popeyes Restaurant on Vlissengen Road last year.
Paddy pleaded not guilty to the charge and told the court he did not escape but was let go by the police officer guarding him. He stated that he bribed the police officer with $80,000 and the officer unlocked his handcuffs and ankle chains and told him, “Do what you got to do.”
