AFTER spending the last eight years on remand for killing a Venezuelan, Lawrence Leroy Semple was released from prison, based on the time served by High Court Judge, Navindra Singh, on Thursday.

Semple, 43, was arraigned for the capital offence of murder during the furtherance of a rape, but opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.
He admitted to the offence of manslaughter, which stated that between, March 10-11, 2012, at Mabaruma, in the North West District (NWD), he unlawfully killed José Valenzuela.
Valenzuela’s body was found at the Mabaruma Sports Ground on March 11, 2012, with multiple injuries, after he was seen drinking with several men at a bar in the neighbourhood with Semple.

A post-mortem examination performed on Valenzuela’s corpse gave the cause of death as asphyxiation due to compression to the neck, compounded by blunt trauma to the head.
Semple was represented by Attorney-at-Law Maxwell McKay, while the State was represented by Prosecutor Tyra Bakker.
Bakker told the court that the men were involved in an incident, during which Semple reportedly inflicted the fatal injuries on Valenzuela.
In his defence, Semple told the court, “I didn’t believe that the person would have died.”

The judge, after considering Semple’s plea, ruled that the time he’d spent on remand should be regarded as time served.