Guyana’s Attorney-General sends family, country his ‘profound sympathy’
–on the passing of a colleague, and ‘consummate professional’

ATTORNEY-GENERAL (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, has expressed profound sympathy to the surviving family members and people of Trinidad and Tobago, birthplace of the late Ms Dana Seetahal, who was gunned down, execution style, early Saturday morning in upscale Woodbrook, a suburb of Port-of Spain.

The former Senior Counsel was in 2012 appointed to sit on the Linden Commission of Inquiry, set up to investigate the tragedy that took place at Linden in July 2012.

Minister Nandlall said in his statement: “I am indeed shocked at the tragic and brutal murder of Dana Seetahal. She was a consummate professional woman, strong and fearless in her professional pursuits. She was a lawyer, an academic and a politician. As an academic, she has made an indelible mark on lives of students at the Hugh Wooding Law School. Her book, ‘Criminal Practice and Procedure in the Commonwealth Caribbean’, remains

the only academic work on that topic in the region.

“Her contribution was nothing less than stellar. As a lawyer, she prosecuted several high-profile cases in her homeland. She was a great admirer of our own Doodnauth Singh, SC. I enjoyed a good professional relationship with her.”
Nandlall deemed Seetahal’s death a tremendous loss to the legal fraternity, not only in Trinidad and Tobago, but to the entire Caribbean region.

According to the Trinidad Express, at about 12.05 a.m., Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal was in her Volkswagen SUV proceeding north along Hamilton-Holder Street in Woodbrook when, upon reaching the vicinity of the Woodbrook Youth Facility, two vehicles pulled alongside hers, causing her to come to a stop.

One of the vehicles, a Nissan Wingroad, then drove ahead a short distance and pulled across the road, blocking it. The other vehicle, described as a panel van, pulled alongside Seetahal’s vehicle and the occupants of that vehicle pulled out their firearms and opened fire on her SUV. The two vehicles then sped off and made good their escape.

Residents of the area, on hearing the gunshots, contacted the police and emergency health services. But despite their swift response, when they arrived, Senior Counsel Dana Setahal, an Express columnist, was dead – slumped along her driver’s seat.

The article added that the first responders notified their seniors, and a party of officers, including ACP Wayne Dick, Senior Superintendent Ishmael David, Acting ASP Williams, Inspector Thomas, Inspector Veronique, Inspector Lawrence and Inspector Rampersad, among others, visited the scene.

Crime scene investigators recovered several 5.62 shells at the scene.
The Trinidad Express reported also that police are currently working on three main theories as a result of this killing. The first and most prominent is that, because of the nature of the incident, it was a “hit” arising out of the senior counsel’s involvement in the Vindra Naipaul-Coolman murder trial. The second theory is that, based on certain information the police received, her killing may have been orchestrated by known criminal elements; and investigators are expected to speak to individuals who are currently in custody as well as who are under surveillance in areas such as Diego Martin and Central Trinidad, to see if there are any further leads.

The third theory is that she was on her way home after spending some time at a popular members club, and there was a possibility that the incident could be linked to her actions at the business place.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Commissioner of Police, Stephen Williams, commenting on the brutal murder, said, “It’s shocking. Crime is a concern, especially violent crime. It’s a shocking incident, one you least expect. I had a conversation with her at around 12.45 pm on Saturday, and everything was fine.

“We need to work as a country together.”

Williams assured that the incident would be thoroughly investigated, and that his officers are on the scene doing a basic investigation.

A $1 million reward has since been offered by CrimeStoppers for information leading to the arrest and successful conviction of those involved in the murder of this eminent attorney.

(By Vanessa Narine)