Justice Brassington Reynolds on Thursday afternoon at the Berbice High Court handed down the death sentence to  murder accused Stafford Harry called ‘Belall’,  for the March 2010 murder of a New Amsterdam fruits vendor.

State-assigned Defence Counsel Sasha Roberts has signaled her intention to appeal the case.

Prior to his conviction, Harry  had been on the run for five years, having  fled to Suriname following the death of  Hasrat Samaroo, called “Watermelon” on March 28, 2010 .

In 2015  police instituted a joint murder charge on  Troy Holligan and Ojay Gourie  who were both charged in the commission of the crime. They were later freed after the Judge noted that the evidence of the main witness was manifestly unreliable.

Unlike two weeks ago when Harry was quiet after he was found guilty of murder, the man erupted in mournful wails on Thursday , proclaiming his innocence.

At the commencement of the trial , State Prosecutor Tuanna Hardy  said that it was sometime around 1900hrs  on the evening of March 27, 2010 , that  Samaroo and his wife Kumarie, were at their home at Hampshire Village, Corentyne .

The man was watching the television in the living room in the upper flat of the two storied building , whilst his wife was cooking in the kitchen downstairs.

The lights were on in the house  and as Kumarie was cooking , she was confronted by a man with a gun. She called out to her husband and the man with the gun used the inner stairs and went up to where her husband was. She then heard  what appeared to be a gun shot . Kumarie then went upstairs and observed the said man with the gun and her husband was standing , as he bled from his groin.

Kumarie also saw two other men, who were also armed with what appeared to be guns. She was relieved of  a total of G$600,000, US$1500,  which was in her wardrobe,  along with five gold bangles  and  five gold finger rings , all valued $400,000  which was on her person.

The evidence of the post-mortem report prepared by Dr Vivikanand Brijmohan, revealed that the death of Samaroo was due to shock and haemorrhage and laceration of the femoral artery. No mention was made of a gunshot injury.

Another witness, Detective Sergeant Lawrence Thomas, in his evidence in chief, recalled, whilst being stationed at Whim Police Station on September 2,2015, he contacted the accused , who was in custody who was deported from Suriname, earlier. The allegation of murder was put to him under caution, but Harry denied killing Samaroo.

Thomas  recalled too that after the unlawful killing of Samaroo checks were made for Harry but reports had revealed that he  had left  the area.

Thomas said there was no confrontation between the accused and the Samaroos nor was an identification parade held . He said no one pointed out the accused as the person who committed the crime.