PHILEMON Boodhoo, who killed a money-changer back in 2015 before robbing him at Number 63 Beach, was on Thursday sentenced to life imprisonment by Justice Priya Sewanrine-Beharry, with the possibility of parole after serving fifty years.

The sentence was handed down at the Berbice Assizes moments after Probation and Social Services officer Ms Felicia Gordon gave a comprehensive report on the prisoner’s background, including community findings of the relationship between the now convicted Boodhoo and the deceased Mohamed Fizal Mahmood Baskh Munir.

Boodhoo had dropped out of the Tagore Memorial Secondary School while in fourth form to assist his family in their manufacturing business. But, after his father’s death, he relocated to his paternal aunt’s residence at Lot 119 Number 65 Village, Corentyne where, after accessing a loan, started a small business outside of the Number 78 Village Mosque, Corriverton.

However, reports indicated that Boodhoo’s business, which he plied a short distance from where Munir operated his, was in existence a mere six weeks before the incident, contrary to what he had earlier divulged. Further, Boodhoo had denied any friendship with the now deceased but said he just knew Munir from the market.

However, wife of the deceased, Jagwanti Munir had indicated that Boodhoo had made several telephone calls to her now late husband with respect to monetary transactions. Following her husband’s death, the family endured severe hardship and financial constraints for the provision for the family’s daily social and economic needs as he was the sole breadwinner. The sudden death of her husband has negatively impacted her family‘s life and that Christmas was the worst ever spent.

Meanwhile, standing in the prisoner’s dock, Boodhoo, with head bowed said: “I am innocent of this charge and my heart goes out to the family who has lost their loved one.”
Defence Lawyer Arundranauth Gossai, relying on the probation report, said the accused was merely twenty years old when the offence was committed. Nevertheless, at that tender age, he showed some signs of industriousness and had shown love for a paternal aunt who is confined to a wheelchair. While a life has been lost, sentencing should reflect the seriousness of the offence, said Gossai, while reminding the court that the convict can be rehabilitated so as to play a meaningful role to his family and community.

In handing down her sentence, Justice Sewnarine-Beharry said she took into consideration the circumstances surrounding the killing, the large amount of money stolen , the psychological and emotional trauma of the deceased family, along with the financial difficulties, the premeditated act and the mitigating circumstances in that after the convict returned to Guyana, he handed himself over to the police. “In all these circumstances, I sentence you to life imprisonment. You will not be eligible for parole until you have served fifty years,” the judge ruled.

On December 24, 2015, the lifeless body of Munir was discovered at the Number 63 Beach foreshore, three days after he was reported missing. At the time of the discovery, a Casio wristwatch, a thousand dollar bill and a piece of wood with what appeared to be blood stains were found nearby.

The case for the prosecution, presented by State Counsel Mandel Moore, was that on December 21, 2015, the accused had telephoned Munir, requesting that he meet him at the Number 64 Village Health Centre dam, as persons needed to change some foreign currency. Boodhoo rented a car and after picking up Munir, drove to the Number 63 beach where he stopped at a spiritualist church in that vicinity. Finding the gate locked and no one around, Boodhoo picked up a wood nearby and inflicted lashes to the head and ankle of the unsuspecting Munir, rendering him unconscious before removing $600,000 from his four pockets. Subsequently, the car was returned and the owner was paid $3000.

Thereafter, Boodhoo shopped a pair of pants and two shirts, before purchasing an airline ticket to travel to Trinidad, and depositing $480,000 at a banking institution. He then fled to Trinidad and Tobago, but later returned and was charged.