NINE years after the gruesome killing of Anna Catherina liquor store owner, Jennifer Persaud, and her two sons, Abishai Caesar, was, on Wednesday, handed three death sentences for the crimes. Justice Sandil Kissoon said he had no other alternative but to impose a sentence of death on Caesar, since the convict treated life and death as “meaningless” and showed no remorse for his horrific actions. Caesar, who was represented by lawyer, Rachael Bakker, had initially denied the three counts of murder when his trial commenced at the High Court in Demerara.
According to the indictment presented by State Prosecutor, Lisa Cave, Caesar murdered 41-year-old Jennifer Persaud called “Jenny,” and her sons, six-year-old Afridi Bacchus and 18-month-old Jadon Ernest, between September 21 and 22, 2012, at Sea View, Anna Catherina. A 12-member jury, on May 28, 2021, found Caesar guilty of the heinous crime.
During the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, a probation report was read in court by a probation officer. The probation officer told the court that Caesar had previously served in the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and was also a teacher for a short period.

The probation officer told the court that Caesar is currently enrolled in a barbering course and anger management counselling while behind bars. The prison authorities stated that Caesar is a well-behaved prisoner and would help other inmates with their studies.
The businesswoman’s father, Kumar Persaud, also gave a statement in court during the sentencing hearing to express his gratitude for the verdict. “I’m happy with the verdict; justice has been served. My daughter and grandsons can finally rest in peace,” the man told the court.
Before imposing sentence, the judge told the court: “This crime that was committed by Abishai Caesar is a despicable unparallel act of cold-blooded ruthless savagery where an entire family…was meticulously and methodically brutally executed by Caesar while these three persons were in the security of their home.”
The trial judge then turned to Caesar and said “You have treated life and death as meaningless. It is only right, it is only proper, and it is only just, in view of your horrific crimes having regards to the exceptional and specific circumstances that… you be sentenced to death.”

The judge told the convict that he will be taken to a lawful prison to suffer death on all three counts in a manner authorised by law.
One of the main witnesses in the case was Zoey Phillips, the former reputed wife of Caesar and neighbour of Persaud.
“Abishai said to me that he was going over to Jenny to get some money because he was broke,” Phillips had told the court during her testimony.
The couple then went into the kitchen in the lower flat of their home, where Caesar armed himself with a knife and a pair of green gloves. He was clad in a pair of 3/4 pants at the time.
The witness said that Caesar went to the back of their house and gained entry into their neighbour’s yard through an opening in the zinc fence. According to Phillips, her neighbour had clear glass windows and so she was able to see Caesar in the woman’s house by peeping through the louvre window in her bedroom. After seeing Caesar as he went up the stairs to Persaud’s home, Phillips claimed that she went to bed and fell asleep. She was later awakened by the sound of a woman screaming and sat on her bed. Thirty minutes later, Caesar called for her and she went downstairs into the kitchen and opened the back door for him.

According to Phillips, Caesar had a small cardboard beer box in his hands, and told her that that was all he had gotten from raiding Persaud’s home. The box contained a number of $20 and $100 bills which amounted to $3,000. He also came back with the pair of gloves and a knife, both of which had what appeared to be blood. There were also what appeared to be spots of blood on his pants. The witness disclosed that her reputed husband told her that Persaud woke up and saw him in her house and he killed her because she saw his face and knew him well.
Caesar, Phillips explained, told her that while he was stabbing Jennifer, the older son woke up and saw him. This caused him to kill the older son and later the baby. The couple then went to the seawall, where Caesar threw the knife into the river. They then went into the street and Caesar threw the gloves and pants into some bushes.
The witness said they returned to their home and went to sleep.
In 2019, Caesar was first tried before Justice Brassington Reynolds, but the case was sent for retrial after a 12-member jury was unable to arrive at a verdict.