TWO years after two elderly women were killed during an invasion at their South Road and Albert Street home, two men accused of killing them were on Thursday, October 24, 2019, sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after serving 35 years behind bars for the gruesome crime.

Imran Khan called Christopher Khan, 25, and Stephen Jason Andrews, 28, both former residents of Albouystown, were charged with the capital offence of murder.
But the men opted to plead guilty to manslaughter.

Particulars of the two charges state that between October 2 and October 3, 2017, at Lot 243 South Road and Albert Street, the duo unlawfully killed Constance Fraser, 89 and Phyllis Caesar, 77, during a robbery.

The men were represented by attorney-at-law Keoma Griffith.

State prosecutor Abigail Gibbs had told the court that Khan and Andrews had broken into the two elderly women’s home at Lot 243 South Road and Albert Street. The men ransacked the home and stole money and valuables.
The women’s hands and feet were bound and mouths gagged. During the home invasion, the women were strangled. After raiding the women’s home, the men then went to Albouystown to split up their loot.

On October 3, 2017, the women’s motionless bodies were discovered lying face down in separate bedrooms at their Bourda home.

Government Pathologist, Dr. Nehaul Singh, gave the cause of death of both women as asphyxiation due to suffocation and manual strangulation, compounded by trauma to the head.

On Thursday, probation officer Anand Sharma read a report he conducted on the two men, who were both fathers and sole breadwinners for their families.
A relative, from each of the victims, read a victim impact statement in court detailing ways in which the death of two elderly women has affected their lives.
The daughter of Constance Fraser, Margaret Gittens, took to the witness stand and told the court that three months after her mother’s death, her sister passed away because she was grieving.

Gittens explained that her mother’s life was snatched away by the two “rascals” sitting in the prisoner docks, who are “cowardly murderers” that opted to take a plea for manslaughter rather than facing a capital offence of murder.
She stressed that the pathologist told her that upon examining her mother’s body, it was discovered that all her organs were healthy and she would have lived a long life.
Meanwhile, Phyllis’ sister, Joan Caesar in her impact statement reminisced on the memories that she shared with her sibling.

Phyllis was described as having the persona as a “bright light” which has left both families grieving for both women since they were all cousins, who lived together in their little home at Robb Street, but their lives were snatched away.

During a plea of mitigation, the men’s attorney, Keoma Griffith asked the court to consider that his clients were young fathers and sole breadwinners for their family.
He also asked the court to consider that his clients did not have any father figures in their lives to guide them and did not get to finish school.

As such, under financial pressure, Khan and Andrews turned to crime due to peer pressure.
The two defendants explained that it was never their intention for the two women to get killed during the home invasion.

With tears in his eyes, Khan begged the deceased family for forgiveness for the hurt he caused and told them that if he could have traded places with the elderly woman he would have.

Andrews, who was crying uncontrollably, said that he was unable to sleep and was haunted with memories from that day.
State prosecutor Gibbs asked the court to consider that both of the two defendants had prior brushes with the law.

Andrews, who had served three years’ imprisonment for break and enter and larceny, was charged with the murder of 70-year-old Dulcie Trim, called Teacher Dolly, on May 18, 2008, at her Friendship, Buxton, East Coast Demerara home.
He was found not guilty by a 12-member jury at the High Court in 2013.
Khan had served 18 months for larceny and, subsequently, three years for escaping from police custody.

Using their skills, Gibbs said, the men broke into the pensioners’ home and even admitted in their caution statement to breaking into their home previously.
While quoting from the verse from the bible John 10:10, Gibbs said “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy”

Justice Kissoon, after considering the background of the case and the plea of mitigation, while also placing weight on the previous brushes Khan and Andrews had with the law, sentenced them to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after serving 35 years behind bars.