The trial of the barber accused of murdering an Anna Catherina businesswoman and her two children commenced yesterday with the woman’s father taking the stand and recounting discovering their bodies.
Abishai Caesar is on trial before Justice Brassington Reynolds at the High Court in Georgetown for allegedly murdering Jennifer Persaud, Afridi Bacchus and Jadon Persaud between September 21st and September 22nd, 2012.
Jennifer Persaud’s father, Kumar Persaud, was one of two witnesses called by state prosecutors Seeta Bishundial and Lisa Cave yesterday.
Kumar related that on September 21st, he spoke with his daughter briefly on the phone before he left for work and did not speak with her after that day. He stated that on the following day after he returned home from work, his wife told him something which led him to call his daughter’s phone but he received no response. He said that after receiving no response, they went to his daughter’s home.
Kumar told the court upon arriving at the Seaview, Anna Catherina location, he observed that the house appeared to be locked, which included the front and side doors of the home and that his daughter’s vehicle was also parked in the yard. The man told the court that he went to speak with neighbours to inquire if they had seen her for the day but he got no response. He added that upon his return to his daughter’s home, he noticed the breeze blowing a zinc from the eastern fence and he entered through that fence where he then observed that the back door to the house appeared as though it was open.
The man further told the court that when he entered the home through the door, he checked a room which was located by the bar area of the home and saw no one there, which led him to go to the upper flat of the home and check the rooms. Upon checking one of the rooms he noticed two feet sticking out of a netting on the bed in that room. He added that he entered the room and held on to the two feet, which he said were both cold and stiff. As he went around the bed he saw his daughter laying with her throat slit and one of his grandsons, who he later identified as Afridi Bacchus, laying across her chest with his throat slit as well.
Kumar subsequently went downstairs and called the Leonora Police Station. He reported that after he would have called the police, the community policing group showed up but he did not allow them to enter the home as he did not want them to contaminate the crime scene. He later saw a policeman who he took into the home to show him what he had discovered. That officer then called for other ranks from the station to travel to the crime scene.
According to Kumar, when the other ranks arrived he was with them as they examined the crime scene and after one of the ranks was instructed to pull the netting up, he saw the body of his other grandson, then 18-month-old Jadon Persaud, roll out of the netting.
Kumar further told the court that on September 24th 2012, he was the one who identified the bodies in the presence of a Sergeant Singh.
Also testifying yesterday was Detective Sergeant Linden Sampson, who is attached to the Criminal Investigation Depart-ment as a crime scene photographer. The officer testified that on September 23rd, 2012, he was contacted by a Detective Sergeant Singh to visit and photograph a crime scene of a murder committed at Seaview, Anna Catherina. Sampson told the court that he reported to the crime scene around 8am and was met by Singh and subsequently took photographs of the interior and exterior of the building. According to the officer, he continued taking photos and photographed what appeared to be blood on the floor and a mattress in the said building. He indicated that he took 35 photographs which were all printed and tendered as evidence in the magistrate’s court in 2016 after the accused was placed before the courts and at no time were any of the photos tampered with.
The photographs were yesterday identified by the officer, tendered and marked as evidence at the High Court.
The trial is to continue today.
Caesar was arrested for the murders in April of 2016.
