FORMER Guyana Defence Force soldier, Dwayne Tappin, was, on Friday, October 18, 2019, found guilty by a mixed 12-member jury for the 2017 murder of his 51-year-old uncle.
Tappin, 29, was tried by Justice Sandil Kissoon at the Demerara High Court for the capital offence.

On Friday, the jury returned a unanimous verdict and found Tappin guilty of killing 51-year-old Randolph Seenauth on August 6, 2017, at Lot 125 South Better Hope, East Coast Demerara.

Evidence in the case was led by state prosecutors Mandel Moore and Abigail Gibbs, while Tappin was represented by attorney-at-law Gwendolyn Bristol.

Bristol asked the court to have probation reports prepared on his client before sentencing is passed. In that regard, Justice Kissoon adjourned the matter until November 14, 2019, to pass sentence on Tappin.

According to reports, Seenauth and his nephew lived in separate apartments on the plot of land.
However, the family had a dispute over the plot of land which the dead man’s mother had occupied before she died. On August 6, 2017, around 04:30 hours, neighbours heard a loud ‘commotion’ coming from one of the apartments, but then there was silence for a few minutes which led them to suspect something was amiss.

Neighbours called out for Seenauth but got no response and later contacted the Sparendaam Police Station.

Police ranks arrived shortly after, and, upon pushing the front door to Seenauth’s apartment, found his head lying in a passageway between the living room and kitchen.

Further checks were made in the apartment and the rest of the man’s body was discovered on a mattress in the bedroom. The murder weapon was not recovered despite searches in both apartments. Tappin, hours after the murder, turned himself over to ranks at the Sparendaam Police Station.

During the trial, Government Pathologist, Nehaul Singh had testified on carrying out the post mortem examination on Seenauth in 2017.
According to the witness, Seenauth’s clothing had blood strains and his head was wrapped in a cloth.

Seenauth’s head was severed from his body and had a laceration under his ears. The back of his hands had cuts which Singh deemed as defensive wounds.
The pathologist explained that the cause of Seenauth’s death was decapitation, which was caused by a sharp weapon- a cutlass.

Police Detective Sergeant, Kevin Martin, had testified during the trial and gave detailed account of what transpired between himself and Tappin at the Sparendaam Police Station, on August 6, 2017.

On that day, about 09:55hours, the detective said that he put the murder allegation to Tappin and cautioned him in accordance with the judge’s rule.

After administering the caution, the witness said, Tappin told him “Offisah me guh tell yuh the truth of this story what happen.”

This response caused the Detective to enquire of Tappin if he would like to give a statement and he (Tappin) said yes and asked him (Martin) to write the statement.
Detective Martin said that, in the presence of his colleague and Tappin’s sister, the statement was taken.

In reading the statement to the court, the witness said that the murder accused told him, “Sir this is what happen. Me guh at me uncle at Lot 125 South Better Hope where me mother use to live, but me mother move out and I get a key for the house.

Every time I go there he (Seenauth) always attacking me when I go there. When I go there this morning he attack me with a cutlass after I open the door with me key. I suspect he was drunk so I tek way the cutlass from he and fire three chops. I then throw way the cutlass in the cane field at the back of Better Hope.”