THE father of liquor store owner Jennifer Persaud, on Thursday, September 12, 2019, testified to finding the lifeless bodies of his daughter and his two grandsons, in their Sea View Anna Catherina, East Bank Essequibo house, seven years ago.

Kumar Persaud took to the witness stand and testified in the trial of 34-year-old Abishai Caesar, a former barber of Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo, which commenced before Justice Brassington Reynolds and a mixed 12-member jury at the High Court.

Caesar denied the charges which stated that, between September 21, 2012, and September 22, 2012, at Sea View Anna Catherina, he murdered 41-year-old Jennifer Persaud, called “Jenny”, and her sons Afridi Bacchus, six, and Jadon Ernest, 18 months.

The state is represented by Prosecutors Seeta Bishundial and Lisa Cave, while Caesar is represented by Attorney-at-law Maxwell McKay.

The witness told the court that in 2012 he was employed as a security guard and worked from 7 am to 7 pm.

He recalled last hearing from his daughter on September 21, 2012, on the phone and he left for work after.

However, the next day, September 22, 2012, when he came home from work, he called his daughter’s phone and it went unanswered.

After sensing that something was wrong, he and his wife went to his daughter’s home in Sea View, Anna Catherina, in a taxi.

Upon their arrival, the place was locked and her vehicle was parked in the yard. He recalled asking the neighbours if they had seen his daughter, and they said no.
Nevertheless, he explained that he noticed that, as the breeze blew, a zinc sheet from his daughter’s fence had come loose; and he entered the yard through the opening.
The back door of the lower flat of Jennifer’s home was open, the witness said. He entered the house, went into the room, in the bar section, and did not see anyone there.

He then went upstairs into a room, where he saw two feet pushing out from a mosquito netting on the bed.

There was a wooden bar in front of the door and he jumped over it. He held the two feet which were cold and stiff.
The witness recalled that, as he went around the bed, he saw his daughter lying with her throat slit and with his grandson Afridi across her chest, with his throat slit as well.

He did not see his other grandson Jadon at the time, but observed a cup with his daughter’s jewellery inside.

At this point, Kumar said he called the police and went back to his wife, who was in the taxi with his other grandson, Rawle Ally.

Ranks from the Community Police were the first persons to arrive on the scene, the witness said, but he did not allow them to enter the home because he was afraid that they would have contaminated the crime scene.

However, a policeman came and he took the officer in the house and showed him where he discovered the bodies.

The officer alerted other ranks, who came and Kumar took them inside the house.

The witness explained that, while in the house, the police officer pulled out the netting from the bed and Jadon rolled out from it.

On September 24, 2012, about 11:15 hours, Kumar told the court that he went to the mortuary at Ezekiel Funeral Home and identified the bodies of his daughter and grandsons to the police.
Also testifying on Thursday was Detective Sargent Lindon Sampson, a crime scene photographer who is stationed at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) crime lab. The witness explained that he had testified in over 1500 cases in the courts.
Sampson testified about taking photos of the crime scene at Sea View Anna Catherina, of the interior and exterior of Jennifer Persaud’s home.
He recalled taking photos of blood on the floor and a mattress on a bed. Thirty five photos taken by Sampson were tendered in court and marked as evidence in the trial.
The trial continues today, Friday, September 13, 2019.

According to reports in 2012, Caesar lived nearby Persaud’s Sea View Anna Catherina home. It is alleged that, after the murder, Caesar moved out of the area.

However, in April 2016, the murder investigation was cracked wide open, when Caesar’s reputed wife told the police that she knew who killed Persaud and her sons.
The Guyana Chronicle had reported that the woman told investigators that Caesar told her that he needed money and so had gone to the house to steal, but the woman was awakened by his search and he had had to kill her, along with her two young sons.