-accomplice gets 24 years
Rooplall Abrahim, who admitted to fatally chopping an elderly Bush Lot businessman and his common-law wife in 2016, has been sentenced to life in prison, while his accomplice, Madanpaul Gocoul, has been sentenced to 24 years for the crime.
Justice Brassington Reynolds handed down the sentences over the course of Monday and Tuesday at the High Court in Berbice after the two men, who had been charged with two counts of murder, pleaded guilty to lesser counts of manslaughter.
On the morning of January 9, 2016, Arthur Doodnauth Rajkumar, 81, and Diane Chamanlall, 45, were discovered with gaping wounds about their bodies in pools of blood at their Lot 93 ‘A’ Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice home.
They were taken to the Fort Wellington Hospital, where Rajkumar was pronounced dead on arrival and Chamanlall succumbed while receiving medical attention.
The bandits had chopped the couple multiple times while demanding money but the elderly man and his wife did not hand over anything. A source had told Stabroek News that after the robbers demanded cash, they were told by the couple that they did not have any. One of the men then responded, “How y’all gon’ get shop and don’t have money?”
The men then continuously chopped the couple. As they packed items, the police arrived at the scene and the men scaled the fence and escaped.
Rajkumar’s body had at least 9 chop wounds, ranging from 3 cm to 17 cm in length, Prosecutor Abigail Gibbs noted.
She said that the accused did not spare any part of Rajkumar’s body, since he had received chop injuries to his ears, head, fingers, shoulder blade and chest.
She also noted that no mercy was shown to Chamanlall, who was found in a blood-stained night dress.
A probation report read to the court stated that Rajkumar was a friend to his community as he would train school dropouts in the field of welding.
It was reported that his son, Elvis Rajkumar, asked that the court apply appropriate penalties for the crimes committed.
Both accused were represented by attorney Ravindra Mohabir.
Abrahim, the number one accused, appeared on Monday, when he was sentenced to life in prison, with him not being eligible for parole until completing 25 years in prison.
Mohabir asked that the court take into consideration Abrahim’s time spent in prison, as well as the fact that he assisted the police from the onset and the hope for rehabilitation.
However, Justice Reynolds called Abrahim a “serial offender” during sentencing, while noting, that he saw no redeeming feature in anything that was told to him by counsel and the prosecutor except for the fact that he chose to plead guilty and not to waste the court’s time.
The judge said it was mercy enough that the state was prepared to accept his offer of a plea to the lesser count of manslaughter. “We have heard of the anguish, and the grief and the continuing trauma being suffered by the relatives of the victims, the deceased persons, and that can never be lost on us,” he observed.
He called the killings “heinous and gruesome” before delivering the sentence.
Meanwhile, Gocoul, also pleaded to the lesser count of manslaughter and was sentenced to 24 years in prison when he appeared yesterday. Mohabir, in representing Gocoul, asked that the judge take in consideration his age at the time, his early guilty plea, and the caution statement of the number one accused, Abrahim, who admitted to inflicting the fatal wounds on the couple.
The attorney also said that on the day in question, the accused intended only to rob the now deceased persons but did not intend to murder them.
Mohabir also asked that the court take into account the time spent in prison and finally the hope of rehabilitation of the accused person and the fact that the prison authorities described him as an obedient individual.
During yesterday’s sentencing, Justice Reynolds said that he was disgusted by the “saga of the beastly Berbice butchers.”
The judge noted that the accused had no respect for life as he pointed out that the post-mortem examinations read as though “they were from a butchery.”
He told Gocoul that it was clear that he succumbed to the influence of a “devil inspired” Abrahim.
The judge informed him that he started his sentence at 35 years but that five years were deducted for the guilty plea, five years for time spent awaiting trial and one year for remorse and good behaviour, which was noted in a probation report.
Gocoul during sentencing pleaded with the judge to have mercy as he said that he would never again commit “wickedness” and wanted to become a family man outside of prison.
Justice Reynolds also recommended that the accused undergo any rehabilitation programme available at the prison, while also urging him to spend his time proving his remorsefulness.
