– remanded to prison

A miner, on Monday, confessed to killing two women when he appeared at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court via Zoom before Magistrate Christel Lambert.
The indictable murder charges were read to Joshua Connell; he was not required to plead and was remanded to prison until December 17, 2020.

Police said that Connell admitted to raping and killing Dimas Emilia Lezama Fermin, a Venezuelan found on October 4, 2020 floating at Big Hope Backdam, Cuyuni, Region Seven.
After he was taken into Police custody, Connell gave Police a statement at the Bartica Police Station where he admitted that he raped the Venezuelan woman at her camp and, in the process, strangled her with his hands when she resisted.

He later threw her body into a pit aback the camp.
Additionally, Police said their investigators discovered that Connell also killed another woman last May over an allegation that she stole his raw gold.
He allegedly killed Rosella Smith, who was found in a pit at Three Miles in Karrau Backdam, Region Seven. An autopsy had revealed that she had died from asphyxiation due to drowning compounded by compression injuries to the neck.

Police said that the suspect was questioned in relation to the murder and admitted via caution statement to having choked Smith and throwing her body into the pit after they had gotten into an argument over raw gold she allegedly stole from him.