A jury yesterday unanimously found 73-year-old Donald Mopp, called “Chetty,” guilty of murdering gold miner Winsel Roger Edwards.
Justice Roxane George, who presided over the case, deferred sentencing to May 14 in order to facilitate the presentation of a probation report, which defence attorney Deborah Kumar requested.
Mopp sighed in distress after hearing that he had been convicted for the capital offence.
The verdict was handed down after about three hours of deliberation by jurors.
The judge, in summing-up the case, before handing it over to the jury, had given directions on murder and manslaughter.
The charge against Mopp, to which he pleaded not guilty, stated that on February 15, 2013, he murdered Edwards.
After the prosecution closed its case on Tuesday, Kumar had made no-case submissions, which the judge overruled. Mopp was then called upon to lead a defence, which he opted to do in unsworn testimony from the prisoner’s dock.
In his brief address to the court, the elderly man had said, “Myself and Roger were friends. I had no reason for wanting to kill him.” He added, “I don’t remember what went on.”
Edwards, 33, of Guy-Hoc Housing Scheme, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital after being stabbed in his chest with a knife.
Government pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh had testified that Edwards died of a perforated blood vessel due to a stab wound.
Eleven prosecution witnesses were called to the stand by state counsel Stacy Goodings.
