ALMOST six years after 47-year-old blockmaker Nathan Persaud was bludgeoned to death at his Herstelling, East Bank Demerara home, his alleged killers, on Monday, appeared at the High Court for their trial.

Beverley Persaud, the dead man’s wife, and Barbadian national, Oswald Yaw called “Meow” appeared before Justice Navindra Singh at the Demerara High Court where a 12-member jury was empanelled.

The duo denied the charge which read that, on September 10, 2015, at Herstelling, East Bank Demerara, they murdered Persaud. The State is being represented by prosecutors, Tiffani Lyken and Teriq Mohammed. Attorneys-at-law Racheal Bakker and Ravindra Mohabir are on record for the accused.

Trial will commence on Tuesday with the testimony of a number of police and civilian witnesses. The Guyana Chronicle had reported that on September 10, 2015, Persaud’s battered, lifeless body was discovered at his Herstelling home, in a pool of blood.
According to reports, a neighbour heard screams from the residence, but did not think to investigate until a man was seen leaving the home several minutes later which aroused his suspicions. The neighbour alerted others and they proceeded to the house, where they discovered Persaud’s body.
A brick and a hammer were found at the crime scene leading investigators to believe that the objects were used to murder Persaud. The number ‘20’ was also found smeared on a refrigerator in the house, equivalent to the number of times the man was hit as confirmed by a post-mortem examination report.

Yaw had reportedly confessed to the crime and told investigators that Beverley Persaud met with him several weeks prior to the murder and had incited him to carry out a hit on her husband in return for $1.7M to cover his travel overseas. He was reportedly paid $10,000 and promised $100,000 in weekly payments.
This newspaper was made to understand that Nathan Persaud was reportedly killed over a land dispute he had with his wife.