Seventy-three-year-old Donald Mopp, called “Chetty,” was yesterday sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of 33-year-old gold miner Winsel Roger Edwards.
On April 16, a jury had unanimously found the elderly man guilty of the capital offence.
Justice Roxane George, who presided over the case, had however deferred sentencing to facilitate the presentation of a probation report, which defence attorney Deborah Kumar had requested.
Kumar who surmised that her client may not be able to live out whatever sentence is imposed, begged the court for lenience, stating that her client is blind in one eye, and suffers from prostate cancer. She said he attends clinics at the Georgetown Public Hospital to treat both medical conditions.
In mitigation, she said that before being slapped with the murder charge, her client boasted an unblemished record. Referring to the probation report, she noted that the senior citizen has had no infractions of prison rules levelled against him while in prison.
Kumar further noted from the report that her client had been described as a “model prisoner.”
She asked the court to consider the two years which her client has since spent behind bars, contending that he is among the oldest persons incarcerated at the prisons.
When asked if he wished to say anything, Mopp declined.
In her address, Prosecutor Stacy Goodings asked the court to consider that a life had been lost and that even up to the point of sentencing, Mopp had shown no remorse.
Recalling the evidence presented during the trial, Goodings said that even after the incident, the convict offered no assistance to Edwards.
Highlighting the age difference between Mopp and the deceased, the prosecutor asked the court to consider that Edwards’ life was taken by someone much older than him.
After considering submissions from both sides, Justice George informed the elderly Mopp that she was starting the sentence at 25 years—from which she deducted two years for the time he has since spent in prion—and three years because of his age and ill-health.
She further ordered that he is not to become eligible for parole, until after he would have spent seven years in jail.
The charge against Mopp, to which he has pleaded not guilty, stated that on February 15, 2013, he murdered Edwards.
After being called upon to lead a defence at the close of the prosecution’s case, Mopp, who opted to do so in unsworn testimony from the prisoner’s dock, had maintained his innocence.
In his brief address to the court on April 16, 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 Guyhoc 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.
The state’s case was presented by Goodings, in association with prosecutors Diana Kaulesar and Shawnette Austin.
Eleven prosecution witnesses testified.
