Mark Royden Williams who is accused of the 2007 murders of Rajesh Singh and Fazil Hakim in a rum shop at Agriculture Road, Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara (ECD), has professed his innocence.
Williams was at the time leading his defence in an unsworn statement, following the close of the prosecution’s case against him, before Justice Sandil Kissoon and a jury at the High Court in Georgetown yesterday afternoon.
A former co-accused, Michael Caesar, who had previously been jointly-charged with Williams for the murders and is currently serving time for the offences after pleading guilty to manslaughter charges, testified that Williams was not involved in the crime.
Caesar was called by attorney-at-law Nigel Hughes as a witness for the defence.
The convict told the court that it was he and three other persons whom he identified as “Chung Boy,” “Mud-up” and “Uncle Willie” who had “gone on duh wuk,” though he sought to quickly point out that he didn’t shoot the men.
His story is that while he was present at the scene, it was “Chung Boy” and “Uncle Willie” who had shot the men in their heads.
Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh had given the cause of death of both men as haemorrhage and shock due to gunshot injuries. The doctor had said that the men had been shot in their heads.
Caesar told the court that after arriving at the premises, he and
his named accomplices exited the vehicle in which they had traveled and went into the liquor bar where they encountered Hakim and Singh who were later shot and killed.
He said that upon exiting the bar as they made their escape bid to Buxton, they encountered a police patrol with which there was an exchange of gunfire, before they were eventually able to make good their escape.
Wazir Hakim—who is an uncle of Fazil, and a cousin of Rajesh had testified to witnessing the gunfire exchange between lawmen and the armed bandits.
He told the court that on the night in question he had just exited the rum shop when he was stopped by a person he described as having long dreadlocks, who enquired from him the whereabouts of the “goldsmith.”
He said he directed the individual to go inside where he would find the goldsmith.
Hakim said that it was at that time that the dreadlocked individual who was dressed in military camouflage, gun-butted him and took him into the shop to lie flat on the ground.
The man said that out of fear he complied and even tightly shut his eyes, as result of which he did not see anything that transpired in the shop thereafter. He said he did, however, hear two gunshots go off.
He then told the court that it was a little while after, that he discovered the bodies of his nephew and cousin both lying on the floor motionless in pools of blood.
Thereafter, he said that as the gunmen tried to drive away he observed the shoot-out between them and the police.
Detective Inspector Suraj Singh who also testified yesterday, read from a caution statement which he said Williams had given to investigators detailing his involvement in the crime as the “lookout.”
“Duh work at Agriculture Road, is a big uncle set up duh wuk,” the detective said the accused related to him; and later signed to that statement which he said he elected him (Singh), to write.
The detective said that at no time did he make any threats, promises or inducements to the accused for him to give the statement.
Singh said that in fact, Williams made the statement of his own volition.
The defence has, however, denied that the accused ever gave the police any statement.
Williams’ story is that he did sign the statement which had already been prepared; only because he had been badly beaten by the lawmen and could not endure any more licks.
Several other detectives who said they were witnesses to the alleged statement also testified and corroborated what Detective Singh said.
Asked by Hughes under cross-examination, Singh confirmed that prior to the taking of the alleged statement, the police had no evidence against his client or even any leads in the case—whether in the form of an eyewitness; or forensic evidence in the form of fingerprints or blood analysis.
Hughes also pointed out discrepancies in the signature provided on the alleged statement which Detective Singh accepted existed.
Singh, however, said he did not realise the variations at the time, but nevertheless said he thought that the difference in the spelling of the name of the accused was simply the way he (Williams) wrote his name.
Hughes suggested to the detective that he had fabricated the statement and that they had severely beaten his client to sign the document. The witness, however, denied this, stating that Williams had freely given the statement.
In leading his defence, the accused said that he had been badly beaten and shocked by the police and that that was why he eventually gave in to signing the statement which they had already prepared. He said that this was after he had repeatedly denied any involvement in the crime.
“I have no idea about this crime. I am innocent of this crime. I did not give any statement to the police,” Williams said.
Williams called ‘Smallie’ is accused of murdering Hakim and Singh on the night of December 16th, 2007. They were patrons of Narendra Mukhram’s liquor bar.
The prosecution’s case is that the accused and his accomplices carried out a robbery at the Agriculture Road, Mon Repos, ECD establishment, during which Singh and Hakim were shot and killed.
The rum shop is located in front of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI).
The trial continues on Monday morning at 9 when Prosecutor Lisa Cave will cross-examine Caesar. Thereafter, both sides are slated to present closing arguments to the jury.
