ORPHEUS Johnson, the man who is accused of killing Travis Rudder Snr was committed to stand trial at the next sitting of the assizes by City Magistrate Judy Latchman.

The decision was made on Tuesday at the close of the preliminary inquiry into the charge against the accused.

Johnson, 28, a pork-knocker of Second Street, Craig, East Bank Demerara, is accused of murdering Travis Rudder Snr, on June 21, at Republic Park.

The magistrate told the court that she was satisfied with the evidence presented by the prosecution. When the ruling was handed down, Johnson asked the magistrate why she was committing him and she knew that he did not murder anyone.

When he was ordered to sign a court document he refused, causing an uproar in the court room, causing the magistrate to return to her chambers, and sending police ranks to take up strategic positions around the court.

Gunmen firing semi-automatic pistols through a bedroom window, pumped 12 bullets into career criminal, Travis Rudder Snr, and a few more rounds into his wife and baby son, as they slept in their bedroom.

By the time the gunmen’s clips were empty, 26-year-old Rudder lay sprawled and lifeless on his bed; his 18-month old son, Travis Rudder (Jnr), badly wounded, with six gunshots to the stomach and back, and Rudder’s reputed wife, Mawanza Gill, bleeding from gunshot wounds to both legs.

Rudder was accused of the March, 2007 murder of his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend Donnis King, who was shot in the stomach at her Bagotstown, East Bank Demerara home.

Rudder was arrested some six months after the killing, but was found not guilty in 2011.

Orpheus Johnson was committed in August of 2016 for another murder.
It was alleged that on April 22, at Agricola, East Bank Demerara, he murdered Gladstone George.

Gladstone George, called ‘Brother’, 32, of Agricola, was pronounced dead at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), minutes after he received two bullets to the head, while he was sitting in a mini bus.

George had just joined the bus and from all indications, his killer was trailing him and waited for the opportunity to strike.

Johnson, a father of one was also accused of robbery under arms. His criminal career dated way back to 2009 when he faced multiple charges, including murder, attempted murder and robbery under-arms. However, Johnson was not convicted on those charges.