The suspect in the 2012 Anna Catherina triple murder was remanded to prison when he faced charges yesterday at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court.
Abishai Caesar, 31, a barber of Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo was not required to plead to the indictable charge. The court heard that between September 21 and 22, 2012 he murdered Jennifer Persaud, Afridi Bacchus, six, and 18-month-old Jadon Persaud.
He was also charged with assaulting his 21-year-old reputed wife of five years on April 21. He pleaded not guilty to the charge. Caesar was also charged with using threatening language to the woman with whom he shared a two-year-old daughter.
According to the facts of the case, read by Police Prosecutor, Corporal Richard Harris, he forced the woman to strip and walk around the yard and threatened to chop off her neck and kill her.
He pleaded guilty to threatening to kill the woman but denied that he made threats to chop off her neck. Magistrate Rochelle Liverpool then entered a not guilty plea.
Further, he was charged indictably with raping a 15-year-old girl in September 2012 as well. All the cases were scheduled for May 31 when he would make his next appearance.
Justice
In the courtyard, Jennifer Persaud’s parents, Sankhoari and Kumar Persaud, said they were relieved that Caesar is finally before the court.
They said that all these years they had one person in mind and that was the father of the 18-month-old baby who was initially arrested and released after 72 hours of incarceration.
Kumar related that they had not heard from his daughter for the day and all their calls went unanswered and they became worried.
The neighbours had also told him that they did not see her. He made a report to the police and then went into the house.
He realized his daughter was dead because her feet were cold and stiff. The older boy was lying across her chest and the baby was next to them on the bed. The blood had already dried up.
On the day the murders were discovered, Caesar was among the onlookers.
Also outside the court yesterday, Afridi’s father, Rasheed Bacchus said even though it is so long, “it was worthwhile waiting. …”
He is grateful “to the person who made this possible so that we can get justice.”
He lamented though that it would not heal his wounds and said his son would have been 10 years old this year.
Abuse
Caesar’s reputed wife said he was good at first but became abusive after he started having affairs and she would tell him about it.
He “would get vex over simple things” and whenever she tried to defend herself he would accuse her of being “disrespectful.”
She tried to run away on several occasions but would return to him after he begged her.
She even tried to escape to Port Kaituma, where she is originally from, after her sister sent her a ticket. But the woman who helped her to arrange the flight was the one who gave information to him. He went to the Ogle airport and tore the ticket up and forced her to return home with him.
On Thursday night she decided that she had had enough. The following day when he went to work at his barbershop, she sneaked out to her father’s house nearby. He later went there to look for her but her family lied that she was not there. She then mustered the courage to make a report to the police on the insistence of her family.
