Three death sentences were yesterday handed down against Abishai Caesar who was convicted on May 28 for the 2012 murders of Anna Catherina businesswoman Jennifer Persaud and her two sons: Afridi Bacchus and 18-month-old Jadon Persaud.
Justice Sandil Kissoon had deferred sentencing of the former barber to yesterday to facilitate the presentation of a probation report. The murders were committed during a robbery at the woman’s Sea View, Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara home between September 21 and September 22, 2012,
The probation report was read to the court yesterday and was in favour of the father of five who it says was regarded as mature and respectful by prison authorities. He had started anger management classes but did not complete them due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Caesar’s attorney, Rachael Bakker asked that the court keep in mind that Caesar had had a favourable probation report.
Before handing down the sentences, Justice Kissoon noted that the probation report stated that Caesar was of good character before he was charged with committing the “despicable, unparalleled act of cold-blooded murder”. He noted that Caesar was an able-bodied person who told his wife of his intentions before he committed the act and said that it was alarming that such conduct can be easily contemplated and acted upon.
The judge also noted that the man mentioned to his wife that he had killed the younger child because he did not want the child to cry and wake the neighbours. Justice Kissoon said that the victims were vulnerable when Caesar entered their home in the dead of night with the intention of robbing them and after Persaud saw him he brutally murdered them.
For this reason, Justice Kissoon said the aggravating factors were considered when deciding on the penalty. The judge cited the gravity of the injuries, the knife used, the fact that it was a home invasion – a separate crime on its own – and that an entire family had lost their lives. As a result, he said that Caesar was sentenced to death in the manner authorized by law for each charge.
There has been a de facto moratorium on the application of the death penalty here.
The case for the prosecution was that Caesar, who was the woman’s neighbour, had gone over to her place to rob her and ended up killing her and her sons.
According to State Counsel Lisa Cave, in her address to the jury at the commencement of the trial which was heard at the High Court in Georgetown, Caesar’s common-law wife, Zoey Phillips, told investigators that her husband had revealed to her that it was he who had murdered Persaud and her two boys. Phillips had testified that between Sep-tember 21 and 22, 2012, she and her husband heard noise coming from next door and upon making checks they saw that three men were fighting outside of Persaud’s shop. After Persaud had stopped the men from fighting, the couple went back to bed. However, she said that later, after midnight, Caesar told her that he was going over to “Jenny’s” shop to get some money.
Phillips said that she subsequently accompanied him downstairs to the kitchen in the home, where he collected a small wood-handled knife and a pair of gloves. She said he was only wearing green pants at the time. She added that they both went outside through the back door to go to the back of the house, where Caesar went through Persaud’s zinc fence, which had a space in it.
Phillips testified that she returned to the bedroom and minutes later looked through the window where she saw Caesar seeming as though he was going upstairs into the home.
She had further stated that after she saw Caesar going up the stairs she went back to the bed and fell asleep. Subsequently, she heard what sounded like a female’s scream which caused her to jump out of her sleep and sit on the bed. She said that minutes later, she heard Caesar call for her as she was still in bed.
Phillips had said that she then went downstairs into the kitchen and opened the back door of the house and the defendant then came in with a small cardboard beer box stating that that was all he got. She recalled that the box had money in $20 and $100 bills, which amounted to about $3,000. Phillips also told the court that Caesar related to her that he had to kill Persaud because she woke up and saw him and knows him very well.
This was the second trial Caesar faced since his first ended in a hung jury back in 2019.
