Accused in sodomy murder case sentenced to death

Death sentence: Brian Vandeyar after he was sentenced yesterday.

Accused logger Bryan Vandeyar, who stabbed fellow logger Haimnauth Ramnarine to death in 2003, and then reported to the Police he had wounded a man who was sodomising him, was yesterday sentenced to death.

Defence counsel Mrs. Marcelle Hinds-Thompson argued that under the circumstances in which the offence was committed, the law says the killing was justifiable homicide, but the mixed jury returned a verdict of guilty of murder.

Although there is only one sentence that could be imposed for the offence of murder – the death sentence – defence counsel had asked the judge to impose a term of imprisonment instead.

But trial judge Yonette Cummings-Edwards, without responding to counsel’s application, ordered all in the court room to stand, as she read the death sentence.

Later, relatives of the accused intimated that the prisoner would appeal against the conviction and death sentence.

The Prosecution’s case was that following a rum spree at Governor Lyte, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, attended by the accused and Ramnarine, the latter was stabbed to death in a struggle with Vandeyar.

The post mortem revealed 10 stab wounds on Ramnarine’ body, and that he had died of shock and haemorrhage. On the other hand, Vandeyar’s story was that he was awakened from sleep by someone attempting to sodomize him, and he hit out at his attacker with a knife which was kept under his pillow.

The man turned out to be his friend and fellow-logger Ramnarine, called ‘Miner’. Yesterday, the judge summed up the evidence in two and a half hours, and the jury took two hours to reach its unanimous verdict. 

Sunday, July 2, 2006