The second accused charged with the 2008 murder of Melissa Payne was yesterday freed after a jury returned a not guilty verdict.
Sylvester Vanderhyden was found not guilty of the murder following a High Court trial before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow. Following deliberations, the jury that was selected to hear the case returned with a not guilty verdict yesterday afternoon.
Vanderhyden, who had pleaded not guilty, was charged with murdering Payne on November 6, 2008 at Agricola, East Bank Demerara.
The State was represented by Prosecutors Lisa Cave, Cicelia Corbin and Latifah Elliot. Vanderhyden was represented by defence attorney George Thomas.
Payne, 27, of Lot 56 Den Amstel, West Coast Demerara, and her common-law husband John Fraser, also known as David Fraser, were proceeding to Georgetown when they were forced to stop because the truck they were travelling in encountered a mechanical problem.
Within minutes, gunmen, who were standing in an old shop across the road, approached and menaced them. It was reported that one approached Fraser and another went to Payne, while a third acted as a lookout. Fraser managed to run into oncoming traffic but Payne was unlucky as a gun had already been pressed against her side and she was commanded to hand over the handbag she was clutching.
Further reports said that from all accounts, the woman attempted to escape and was shot in the process, while the men fled through a nearby alleyway with her bag, which contained more than $100,000, as well as the two gold chains she had been wearing. Payne, who sustained a single gunshot wound under her right armpit, was subsequently pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Hospital.
In January, 2018, another accused in the crime, Jermaine Savory, was sentenced to 15 years in jail for the murder after he was found guilty by a jury.
