A Corentyne farmer who earlier this month pleaded guilty to the 2019 murders of a Canadian hotelier and his watchman at Number 63 Village, Corentyne, Berbice, was yesterday sentenced to life in prison on both counts.
During the sentencing, the court heard that a statement from the convict said that he was hired by the hotelier’s overseas-based brother to kill him for $1m.
Alvin Durant also known as “Alvin Bhola” and “Blacka”, 51, of Number 65 Village, Corentyne, Berbice, had appeared before Justice Sandil Kissoon at the High Court in Berbice where he had entered his guilty plea earlier this month.
It is alleged that between December 19th and December 27th, 2019, at Sun Splash Hotel, Number 63 Village, he murdered Vivekanand Brijbassi also known as ‘Vivekanand Narpatty’, and Harry Prashad.
At the plea and sentencing hearings, the state was represented by Attorney at Law, Muntaz Ali, while Durant was represented by Attorney Surihya Sabsook.
Justice Kissoon yesterday sentenced Durant to life in prison without parole on both counts.
“The court is sentencing the accused to what is described in law as a whole life sentence. The accused shall not be released nor considered eligible for parole. The accused shall remain incarcerated for the duration of his natural life and that is the only sentence that this court deems appropriate and just flowing out of the factual circumstances of the crime”, the judge said.
In issuing his sentence, Justice Kissoon stated that the brutal murders of the two were planned, deliberated on, and carried out by the accused acting together with another. “And the accused stated that this occurred after he was counseled and procured by the brother of the deceased to kill Vivekanand Narpatty, that is a matter of record before the court”, he said.
Justice Kissoon added that the matter was a “murder for hire” pointing out further that “the accused stated that he was procured by the brother of the deceased Vivekanand Narpatty in December, 2019, to murder his victim for the sum of a million dollars to which he received a deposit.”
According to Kissoon, Narpatty’s brother, who remains in the United States of America, was identified by the accused in his statement given to the police. “The police are in possession of sufficient information to warrant and to justify that person being brought back to this jurisdiction with the assistance of the authorities in the United States to stand trial of the offence which it is alleged he set in train”, the judge stated.
The judge said that in the course of carrying out this “treacherous contract of evil, of murder for hire” the accused engaged in acts of torture of both victims in hope of receiving additional financial gain and reward.
According to the judge, the statements of the accused and his accomplice to the police collectively point and paint a grim picture of “sadistic evil and murder” which was unleased and meted out to two aged pensioners.
Justice Kissoon added that the accused among the other persons who were physically present was the mastermind in carrying out the murder of Narpatty and in the course thereof made use of dangerous weapons and used extreme cruelty, brutality and violence.
He stressed that the extreme violence is depicted in the injuries the deceased sustained.
During the reading of the probation report, the court heard that prior to the incident Durant resided with his common-law wife and three children. He provided for his household with earnings from his farm after selling produce at the Number 79 Market.
The accused was described by residents from the community in which he resided prior to his incarceration, as a very troublesome individual, who stole from residents in and around the neighbouring communities. Further, the residents also stated that he was known for stealing cattle. Consequently, some of the residents stated that they were afraid of him since he was a menace in the community.
However, the reports from the administration of the New Amsterdam Prison described the accused as a person of a peaceful disposition.
According to the probation report, the accused and the deceased were not known to each other since they never met.
Meanwhile, the probation report described the deceased hotelier to be a hardworking individual “who laboured for everything he achieved.”
According to his daughter, he was a part-time disc jockey and a lover of music and had a dream to be the first individual to own a beach resort on the Corentyne.
In 1971, he migrated to Canada to seek a better life for his family. Subsequently, he was married in 1975 and the union produced two children who were loved and cherished by him. Further, his daughter also noted that “after thirty years of working hard in Canada her father’s dream was realized after he spent their life savings to develop and build the Sun Splash Resort at No. 63 Village, Corentyne, Berbice where he met his demise.”
She lamented that her father’s death has severely affected the family as they are depressed, sad and heartbroken. She also related that her mother’s health has continued to decline since her father’s death. Consequently, the deceased’s family would like justice to be served since their loved one did not deserve to die in such a way.
The deceased’s daughter also expressed her sympathy for the security officer, Harry Persaud, who died with her father.
Prior to sentencing, the accused Durant told the judge, “I get three children to look after out there, have mercy on me, I’m asking the court to have mercy on me.”
The decomposing bodies of Brijbassi, 71, who was the owner of Sun Splash Holiday Beach Resort, and his watchman, Prashad, 59, of Number 68 Village, Corentyne, were found bound and gagged in the balcony area of the upper flat of the two-storey facility on December 27th.
It was reported that the men died as a result of shock and haemorrhaging due to multiple injuries they suffered. The police said that Brijbassi was discovered with two toes from his left foot severed, while Prashad was found with both hands tied behind his back to a post and his left foot completely severed from the ankle.
Brijbassi reportedly arrived in Guyana on September 20, 2019, and was last seen by his sister Krishna Boodram on December 19, 2019, when he visited her home and had dinner with her.
She had related that her brother had been afraid of staying at the hotel but eventually had made up his mind to stay there. She had questioned him about whether he was scared to reside at the building, and he had told her that he had two friends staying with him, one of whom was identified as Prashad.
Earlier in June, a Corentyne man who was charged while a juvenile in 2020 with the murders of the Canadian hotelier and his watchman opted to plead guilty and was sentenced to four years in prison.
The now 19-year-old convict was sentenced to four years in prison minus time served. After he has completed his sentence the court ordered that he is to be placed on probation for three years and a report be prepared by the chief probation officer every month. He was ordered to inform the probation officer if he changed his address.
Additionally, he will have to perform community service for one hour weekly for six months. He was further ordered to try to find gainful employment and to not travel unless the court orders it. He is also to keep the peace and be on good behaviour while on probation.
Furthermore, noncompliance with the above orders will permit the State to make an application to review his sentence.
