THE Preliminary Inquiry into Jason De Florimonte’s murder continued before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Providence Magistrate’s Court, on Thursday, May 2, 2019.
On trial for the murder is Erwin Bacchus, proprietor of the Tourist Villa Hotel and Bar. Bacchus, 45, is on remand for the capital offence, particulars of which allege that on August 4, 2018, at Fifth Avenue, Subryanville, Kitty, he murdered De Florimonte, 30.

Defence attorneys Nigel Hughes and Glen Hanoman on Thursday made their final submissions; this paves the way for Magistrate Latchman to make a decision as to whether or not the accused will lead his own defence on the next court on May 7, 2019.

According to reports, on August 4, 2018, around 01:00hrs, De Florimonte, who lived in proximity to Bacchus’s hotel, was seen abusing a young woman. Bacchus’s employee, a handyman, intervened and De Florimonte armed himself with a rolling pin and a knife and attacked the handyman, who ran into the compound of the hotel. Bacchus, a licensed firearm holder, drew his firearm and fired two warning shots, but De Florimonte continued to attack the handyman. It was then that Bacchus fired several shots at De Florimonte, causing him to be mortally wounded.

An autopsy conducted on De Florimonte’s remains revealed that he was shot three times about his body.