FOLLOWING the empanelment of a 12-member jury in the Demerara High Court before Justice Navindra Singh, the ‘Montrose Granny’ murder trial started with testimonies from several witnesses.

Upon presentation of the indictment, which alleges that on August 1, 2015, the accused Colin Allen called “Colis Williams” or “Bonus” murdered Danrasie Ganesh called “Carmen” in the county of Demerara, the accused pleaded not guilty.

State Prosecutor Abigail Gibb, in her opening statement, said that the accused who is indicted for the alleged murder on August 1, 2015, was an unwanted guest at the home of the deceased Danrasie Ganesh called “Carmen.

The 77-year-old woman lived alone at Lot 121 Public Road, East Coast Demerara, and on the day in question, the accused reportedly entered the house as if he lived there.

The State’s first witness, Rex Mangru, a next door neighbour to the deceased, recalled that on August 1, 2015, he got up at about 06:20hrs and went about his day’s work. However, he did not see the deceased, who he described as an “early riser who would be up and about cleaning her yard.”

Mangru said, he realised that something was not right when he did not see his neighbour, and enquired from his relatives whether they saw her that morning, but no one recalled seeing the elderly woman.

A telephone call was placed to the woman’s daughter, who lives in the same neighbourhood, and she went to the house to call out to her mother.
After the daughter received no answer, Mangru said he and some others residents attempted to open the padlocked gate but failed, resulting in one from among them having to jump the fence.

The witness said that the person who did, went to the house and returned saying ‘granny was dead’ and someone started to holler. It was then they lashed open the padlock, opened the gate and gained entry to the house, where,the lifeless body of the woman was found lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen.
Mangru told the court that he summoned the police to the scene.

Taking her stand in the witness box, next, the dead woman’s daughter, Basmattie Ganesh called “Sandra”, recalled receiving a telephone call from a neighbour, that caused her to visit her mother’s house to check on her.

She said her mother had lived alone and was the caretaker of the property for more than 30 years. The witness added that she used to see her mother almost every day, when she visited to take meals and last saw her alive on July 31, 2015.

On the day in question, Ganesh recalled that she had earlier passed by her mother’s place but did not see her, and she surmised that since it was Saturday and market day, her mother had gone there. Ganesh said she did not see her mother at that location either.

The witness said she subsequently went home and prepared a meal, which she was supposed to take to her mother’s place, later that day.
Ganesh told the court that she received a call after 10:00hrs that day, causing her to go over to her mothers’ place to enquire of her whereabouts, and the neighbours came out as well.

The witness, who cried as she gave her evidence, recalled experiencing some difficulty breaking the padlock, before entering the house, where she saw the body of her mother on the kitchen floor, in a pool of blood.

Ganesh said she identified the body of her mother to Dr. Nehaul Singh, who performed the post-mortem. She was present at the cremation, as well as was at the crime scene, when the police brought the suspect, who she pointed out in the courtroom.

Former Inspector of Police Cedric Gravesande, who was next to give evidence, testified that in 2015 he was the officer-in-charge of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at Sparendaam Police Station.

The senior officer told the court that on August 22, 2015 he was at CID Headquarters, Eve Leary, at about 12:50hrs, where he was handed a `caution statement’ in favour of the accused, Colin Allen, who was present and in custody.

Gravesande said he read the document, approached the accused and then identified himself as a police, dressed in plain clothes, and requested to take the accused to the crime scene, The accused, he told the court, replied “Yes, I gon tek you”, after which he was cautioned.

Continuing, the witness stated that he, along with a party of ranks,took the accused to the crime scene, and he (the accused) pointed to a southern gate and said:“Offica dis is the gate I met the man and we talked before I went into the house.”

Gravesande said that he then noticed a parked silver grey Spacio, PMM 4949, and the accused said that it was the same car he was in when he talked the ‘man’.
The former cop stated, that the accused told him that he then picked up a bar and went into the house, and they followed him.

The witness said the accused took them to a door leading to the kitchen, he also showed them a room, then an internal stairway leading to the upper flat of the building. He also showed them the middle room.

Gravesande said that he made checks in the places pointed out by the accused. The accused took them back downstairs, where, he said, he met the deceased and dealt her several lashes and she fell unconscious to the floor.

The witness added, that the accused told him that he picked up some documents and handed it to the ‘man’ he had talked to earlier. He then went back into the house and ransacked the lower flat before leaving the place. He, then, took a bus to go home.
Gravesande told the court that the accused was not cooperate under duress but did so, on his own free will.

The state is represented by Abigail Gibbs, in association with Tuanna Hardy and Teriq Mohamed. The defence attorney is Rachel Bakker.

The case continues today, February 20, 2019, when more witnesses are expected to testify.