Farmer, Richard Martin, is now awaiting sentencing for the September 2020 killing of Bourda Market labourer Ovid Chester, who had been stabbed to death after he reportedly conned Martin out of a net that he promised to sell.
Martin was on trial for murder before High Court Judge Simone Morris-Ramlall when he decided that the trial be aborted, indicating through his attorney that he wished to confess to what he had done.
He pleaded to the lesser count of manslaughter, accepting when the charge was re-read to him, that he had in fact unlawfully killed Chester on September 2nd, 2020 at an alley off Bourda Street near North Road.
The judge has deferred sentencing to April 3rd to first hear from a probation and other social impact reports.
Background
At the time, Regional Commander of Region Four ‘A’, Assistant Commissioner Simon McBean had told this newspaper that investigations revealed that the day before the killing, Martin, 51, of Block 22, Wismar, Linden, had taken a construction net to Bourda Market to sell.
While there, he met Chester, who offered to sell the item for him and he agreed.
Martin, the police had said, waited for some time but did not see Chester return, so he eventually left the area.
At around 10 am the following day, McBean said, Martin returned to the market armed with a knife and went in search of Chester.
Chester was confronted in an alley off Bourda Street near North Road.
Martin questioned Chester about the money from the sale of the construction net. This led to a heated argument during which Martin pulled out the knife and stabbed Chester in his chest.
The wounded man ran from the alley and collapsed on Bourda Street.
Vendors had told Stabroek News that they only learnt Chester was stabbed after checking on him when he collapsed.
He was subsequently pronounced dead at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
