Widow, ‘hitman’ confess to killing block maker at Herstelling
One day after pleading not guilty to hiring her co-accused to kill her husband, both Beverley Persaud and the `hitman’ Oswald Junior Yaw admitted that it was they who had in fact killed Nathan Andrew Persaud at Herstelling.
Before the High Court in Georgetown on Monday, Persaud and Yaw were indicted for the block maker’s murder to which they pleaded not guilty.
Following the empanelment of a jury to hear the case, Justice Navindra Singh had adjourned the matter to officially commence the trial yesterday morning.
When the case was called, however, the accused indicated to the court that they no longer wished to proceed to trial and instead threw themselves at the mercy of the court pleading guilty to the charge of murder.
When each was asked, they told the judge that no one had forced their decision, and that they understood that by pleading to the charge they would be forfeiting their right to a trial.
The prosecution did not accept pleas to the lesser offence of manslaughter, which then saw the two pleading to the capital offence on which they had originally been indicted.
The jointly-charged duo was then rearraigned and this time around accepted the charge which stated that on September 10th, 2015 Persaud contracted Yaw to kill her husband.
They now await sentencing which has been fixed for February 16th, pending the presentation of probation reports.
In her opening address to the jury on Monday, Prosecutor Tiffini Lyken had said that Persaud’s body was found at his Lot 66 Herstelling, East Bank Demerara property where he was living at the time, having previously moved out of his matrimonial home.
She said that an autopsy later revealed that he had died of haemorrhage and shock due to multiple injuries.
Lyken said that following police investigations, Beverley called “Bev” and Yaw also known as “Meow” and “Jason” were arrested and charged with murder.
It had been reported that Persaud had promised Yaw a sum of money to kill her husband, with whom she was in the midst of a property dispute.
On the morning of September 10th, Persaud was brutally murdered at his Herstelling home. His body was later discovered after a neighbour, overhearing screams coming from the residence and later seeing a strange man leave the premises, realised something may have been amiss.
Police had stated that the widow, after being held for questioning, had confessed to the role she’d played in her husband’s murder and fingered Yaw as her accomplice.
Persaud is being represented by attorney-at-Law Ravindra Mohabir, while Yaw is being represented by attorney Rachel Bakker.