One of the two men charged with breaking into the home of Better Hope pensioner David Ramkissoon and murdering him is now awaiting his sentence after admitting to the lesser offence of manslaughter.
At his arraignment on Thursday, Godfrey Gill, called ‘Chucky,’ pleaded not guilty to the capital offence, but admitted on the lesser charge that he, in the company of others, killed Ramkissoon during a robbery on August 21, 2016.
Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall has deferred sentencing until March 24 to facilitate the presentation of a probation report.
The facts presented by Prosecutor Caressa Henry are that Gill and two others broke into the elderly man’s home while his son and family were out.
The court heard that they encountered Ram-kissoon, called ‘Dillip’ and ‘Shortman,’ whose throat they slit with a knife.
They then ransacked the house before carting off a quantity of cash, jewellery and other items.
Henry told the court that upon his return home, the man’s son found him in a kneeling position on the floor in a pool of blood, and realised that they had been robbed.
She said that during investigations, Gill would later admit to the police that he and two other persons had robbed and killed the 76-year-old man.
The prosecutor said that Gill also related that they divided the money they had stolen, from which he got $25,000.
An autopsy revealed that Ramkisson died from shock and hemorrhage, due to incised wounds to the head and neck.
Gill was represented by defence attorney Dexter Smartt.
The matter was heard at the Demerara High Court.
The dead man’s daughter-in-law, Nalini, had previously related to this newspaper that she left him relaxing in their hammock, while the house was tightly secured. The family had left to visit a creek along the Linden/Soesdyke Highway. According to her, hours later, she called the landline but the calls when unanswered.
When they returned home, the house was completely dark, which they found to be quite unusual. Nalini had said her husband, Anand Ramkissoon, went to check on his father and found the house ransacked and his father dead.
There was a hole in the back fence, which the family suspects the bandits used to gain entry to the property.
