-judge calls for societal action against `epidemic of domestic violence’
A 32-year-old man from Strathspey was sentenced on November 14, 2024 to life in prison for the murder of his mother-in-law, Velma Pickering.
Linden Junior Isaacs, who pleaded guilty to the crime, was sentenced by Justice Sandil Kissoon in the High Court. Isaacs will serve a minimum of 25 years before becoming eligible for parole.
The murder occurred on May 11, 2020, at Pickering’s Vryheid’s Lust home. Isaacs stabbed the 56-year-old woman 14 times with a 12-inch ice pick while she was in the house with her three-year-old grandson. Pickering managed to escape the house and sought help from neighbours but collapsed on a nearby bridge. She was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) but died from shock and haemorrhage caused by multiple stab wounds to her upper abdomen.
