Recently sentenced to death for the 2018 murder of 76-year-old Ruby businessman Habiboodean (only name), Linden Lewis has filed an appeal against his conviction and the punishment.
Lewis, called ‘Bullet,’ was found guilty and sentenced to death along with the deceased’s daughter, Bibi Nazeela Habiboodean.
Lewis indicated in his notice of appeal his intention of adding additional grounds to his challenge when his matter is called for hearing.
Habiboodean, 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.
A jury last month found Bibi and Lewis, who police said was the self-confessed hitman, guilty as charged.
High Court Judge Sandil Kissoon described the savage beating the septuagenarian victim endured as reprehensible and that the “rage and revulsion” of society needed to be reflected in the sentence, thereby necessitating the death penalty.
The judge had 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.
While an initial attempt to prosecute Bibi failed, the police subsequently arrested Lewis for questioning in relation to two other murders and they claimed he confessed to being hired by Bibi to kill her father. Investigators had said he told them that he was the hitman and subsequently implicated the woman as the mastermind, resulting in new charges.
