Bibi Nazeela Habiboodean and the man she hired to kill her father were yesterday both sentenced to death by High Court Judge Sandil Kissoon, who described the savage beating the septuagenarian victim endured as reprehensible.
76-year-old Habiboodean (only name), formerly of Lot 111 Ruby, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), was beaten to death at his home on February 15, 2008. He would succumb to his injuries a day later at the Woodlands Hospital.
Bibi Nazeela and her accomplice Linden Lewis, called ‘Bullet,’ were seemingly shocked after the announcement from the foreman that they had been found guilty of the capital offence. They were, however, overcome by visible signs of distress after the marshall read them each their death sentence.
Lewis placed his head in the palms of his hands, while Bibi placed her hands on her head.
Justice Kissoon told the convicts that the “rage and revulsion” of society’s abhorrence of the horrific killing of the septuagenarian needed to be reflected in the sentence, which he said warranted the death penalty.
Form the facts presented at trial, the judge recalled the “brutal,” “vicious” and “violent” manner in which the elderly man was beaten to death because of his daughter’s “greed” for his possessions.
Justice Kissoon noted that it was Bibi Nazeela’s “desire” for her father’s wealth that drove her to forge his signature to will his possessions over to her and which eventually led her to procuring Lewis to kill the businessman.
When given a chance to speak, Lewis thanked his attorney Latchmie Rahamat for what he said he believed was “a good defence” but contended that he was not given a fair trial.
His claim was that the persons who testified in the Magistrate’s Court were not the same persons called against him by the prosecution in the High Court.
His resolve, however, was: “I leff everything in de hands ah God.”
Meanwhile; when given a chance to speak, Bibi Nazeela would only say, “I am innocent of the offence.”
The 12-member mixed jury returned with its unanimous verdict after some two hours of deliberations.
The prosecution’s case was presented by Senior State Counsel Lisa Cave.
Bibi Nazeela was represented by defence attorney Roger Yearwood.
Following the murder, a relative had told this newspaper that nothing was taken from the businessman’s home and neither was it ransacked and the attack occurred reportedly because of a family feud.
After initially being charged with her father’s murder, Bibi Nazeela was freed after then Magistrate Fazil Azeez, sitting at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate’s Court, ruled that a prima facie case had not been made out against her.
The police had said, however, that Lewis who at the time was in custody for questioning in relation to two other murders, confessed to being hired by Bibi to kill her father.
Investigators had said he told them that he was the hit-man and subsequently implicated Bibi Nazeela as the plotter.
She later turned herself into police in the company of her lawyer.
