Better Hope double murder PI adjourned until November
Magistrate Alisha George yesterday adjourned the preliminary inquiry (PI) into the murder charge against the five men charged with the murders of Better Hope moneychanger Aaron Latchman and his daughter, Arian Latchman, until November when more evidence is expected to be available.
The magistrate made the announcement to the court after two detectives attached to the Criminal Investigation Department, Eve Leary, yesterday testified against the five men.
Mark Rufino, 25, a labourer, of Parika; Paul Chan, 37, a conductor, of Sophia; Troy Abrams, a vendor, of Agricola; Lloyd Sadloo, 37, of Mocha; and Sean Thomas, 41, an electrician, of Kitty, face the indictable charge which states that on July 4th, 2019, at Robert Street, Better Hope, they murdered the Latchmans in the course or furtherance of a robbery. The five accused appeared via Zoom yesterday for the continuation of the PI, where
Detective Sergeant 17451 Nigel Gravesande and Police Corporal 22877 Heranjan Deonarine took the stand at the Sparendaam Magistrates’ Courts.
Following their evidence, Magistrate George told the court that the matter will continue as soon as call logs which will be used as evidence are available in October. As a result, the matter will continue in November. She said that once the prosecutor has the logs, the defence attorneys will be contacted.
The Latchmans were killed by armed bandits at their 58 Robert Street, Better Hope North home in 2019. According to the police, Aaron was confronted by the bandits as he exited his car and after he allegedly put up a fight, he was shot. Arian was shot and killed in the upper flat of the home. The armed bandits then took a bag containing money and escaped in a waiting car.
Aaron Latchman worked as a moneychanger on America Street, while Arian Latchman was a Medical Technology student at the University of Guyana.