Judge frees headless body murder accused
DANNY Busjit, the accused in the headless body murder case at the Berbice Assizes, was freed by Justice Brassington Reynolds on Monday afternoon.
The judge directed the jury to formally return a not guilty verdict in favour of the prisoner, before discharging him.
The naked corpse of the victim, American citizen Kalidas Surjnarine, 74, was found in his yard at Mibicuri, Black Bush Polder, Corentyne, on November 26, 2005.
It was buried at Blairmont, West Bank Berbice, on December 1, 2005.
Directing his remarks to Busjit, Justice Reynolds told him: “You and the good Lord knows, if anything occurred on November 26, 2005.”
“Nothing heard was sufficient to satisfy us on those events, if any and you are to be thankful to your lawyers for the professional manner in which they conducted the case. You need to give the good Lord much thanks. Make good use of your life.”
Attorneys-at-law Mr. Mursulene Bacchus and Mrs. Kim Kyte-John appeared for the Defence.
However, Busjit was handcuffed and returned to New Amsterdam Prison, where he is, currently, serving a five years sentence for escaping from lawful custody.
He was among 18 remanded prisoners who staged a daring breakout of the penitentiary on August 25, 2007, by sawing through iron bars in the recreational facility and jumping over a 15 feet fence at the back of the compound, using a makeshift ladder.
Justice Reynolds, who upheld a no-case submission in the murder trial, informed the jury that, after three weeks of hearing, he had determined, on points of law, that a case was not made out for Busjit to answer.
Unsupported
Referring to the evidence of Police Detective Sergeant Richard Frank, who testified that he got an oral statement, in which the accused confessed that he and two other men killed Surjnarine, he told his mother, Bhanmattie Singh and she quarrelled with them, the judge said the deposition was unsupported by other elements of the matter.
Justice Reynolds observed that, although a body was discovered, the remains, which Government pathologist Dr. Vivekanand Brijmohan examined and wrote a post mortem report, may well not have been that to which other witnesses had referred.
“I deem it unsafe to allow you, as judges of the facts, to participate further in this matter,” the judge said, instructing the jurors to formally acquit the accused.
The judge commended State Prosecutor Dionne Mc Cammon for the task which he said was well executed.
However, Justice Reynolds recommended that upgraded and refresher training courses be given to Police investigators, remarking that they took several issues for granted and the time has come for them to “tighten their boots.”
During the trial, which spawned three weeks, three voir dires (smaller trials) were conducted, after the Defence objected to the admissibility of an attestation attributed to  Busjit, citing threats and promises held out to him by persons in authority to secure his signature.
The lawyers contended that the written document was not obtained freely and voluntarily.
The objection was taken after Police Detective Assistant Superintendent Gary Mc Allister said the accused had elected to make it.
Earlier, Mc Allister had told the Court that, after contacting Busjit at Mibicuri Police Station, he put the allegation, under caution, to the suspect and he offered to tell what happened.
But after listening to legal submissions, the judge threw out the testament.
The Prosecution had also sought to have the oral statement admitted but that, too, was excluded by the judge, on the grounds of unfairness to the accused.
Then Mc Cammon attempted to tender the deposition of overseas based, Syaan Kalidas, a son of the deceased, but was also deemed inadmissible.
The witness had identified the body as that of his father.