AFTER throwing himself at the mercy of High Court Judge Jo-Ann Barlow, Athlone Pitt, called ‘Buddy’, was, on Wednesday, sentenced to 22 years’ imprisonment for the gruesome murder of his wife, and also for wounding another woman during an attack in 2016.
Pitt, 45, formerly of Chelsea Park, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara, had, two weeks ago, opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. He admitted that, on June 1, 2016, at Mahaica, East Coast Demerara, he unlawfully killed his wife Candacy Pitt, called “Cindy.”

On Wednesday, when Pitt re-appeared in court for sentencing, he further confessed to another charge which read that, on June 1, 2016, at Mahaica, he wounded Brenda Thomas.
State prosecutor Sarah Martin told the court that the day before Pitt killed his wife, while she was at work as a security guard at Bygeval Secondary School, he told her, “This is the last day you would work here.” Martin explained that Pitt had accused his wife of “having another man.”

On June 1, 2016, Pitt went to the school armed with a knife and cutlass and went on a chopping spree, during which he killed his wife and injured her cousin, Brenda Thomas. After committing the heinous act, Pitt turned himself in to the police and handed over the murder weapons.

Before sentencing, Pitt’s probation report was presented in court by Probation Officer Marcus, who is attached to the Ministry of Social Protection.

Marcus told the court that Athlone and Candacy began dating in 2003, and got married soon after. Pitt, who was once employed as a truck driver and carpenter, was described by his relatives as a loving, caring and family-oriented person.

However, when the probation officer spoke with persons in the area, it was revealed that Pitt began drinking, then was soon jobless. This, the villagers said, resulted in deterioration of his mental state. He became depressed, frequently talked about committing suicide and had even attempted to take his own life.

Pitt, the probation officer said, told her that during the first seven years of marriage with his wife she was loving to him. But he then noticed that his wife’s attitude towards him changed and she became hostile. According to Marcus, there were rumours circulating that his wife was cheating and that he was being teased about it by his friends.
Relatives of Candacy Pitt, the probation officer said, had indicated that they knew how Athlone treated his wife and when they talked to her, their advice would fall on deaf ears because she loved her husband. Some family members claimed that Pitt had infertility problems and it was rumoured that his wife was seeking other relationships in order to get pregnant.

Pitt told the probation officer that he felt victimised and out of jealousy and rumours, he killed his wife.

Based on the report, the probation officer recommended psychiatric intervention for Pitt.
Attorney-at-law Adrian Thompson, during a plea of mitigation, told the court that his client is remorseful for the pain he had caused his family. Thompson also asked the court to consider that Pitt did not waste the court’s time and had thrown himself at its mercy.
The judge before sentencing considered the force which Pitt used to kill his wife, severing her arm during the attack. She also received injuries to her neck, back, shoulder, and other places about her body.

She also cited several cases in which husbands were jailed for killing their wives; these included Lloyd Anthony McLeod, who is serving a life sentence.
Justice Barlow then sentenced Pitt to serve 22 years for killing his wife and eight years for wounding Thomas. The sentences will, however, run concurrently. The judge also ordered that Pitt be exposed to counselling for his depression and anger
The Guyana Chronicle had earlier reported that the couple shared 13 years of marriage which ended in bloodshed on June 1, 2016.

At the time, Candacy Pitt, 31, was on duty at the school located behind her residence.
According to a police report, she worked as a security guard at the school and was attacked about 21:45 hours by her husband at her workplace where she was dealt multiple chops about her body.

However, the police noted that he first attacked and chopped her cousin, security guard Brenda Thomas, 51, of Chelsea Park, who had denied him entry into the compound to see his wife. Mrs. Pitt and her cousin Thomas were both on duty at the time of the attack.
They were rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where Mrs. Pitt was pronounced dead on arrival, while Brenda Thomas was admitted.

During the time of the incident, when this newspaper spoke with the dead woman’s mother, Evonne Andrews, the latter said her daughter had begun working almost two months before (the incident) at the school as a security guard. She explained that her daughter who lived in a neighbouring building would spend most of the time with the family.

“Her husband was a lazy drunkard who hardly worked. He was a driver. I can’t remember the last time when he worked; he would normally be drinking all over the place and would threaten her whenever she is over here,” Ms. Andrews, a mother of three, said.
However, the couple never sought counselling, Ms. Andrews said, but her daughter would attend church and hope for the best.