BIBI Nazeela Habiboodean and the man she allegedly hired to kill her 76-year-old father were, on Friday, sentenced to death after a jury found them guilty of the gruesome crime.

Habiboodean and Linden Lewis, called ‘Bullet’ were on trial before Justice Sandil Kissoon at the Demerara High Court for murdering the elder Habiboodean on February 15, 2008 at Ruby, East Bank Essequibo.

A 12-member jury, after deliberating for over two hours, returned with a unanimous guilty verdict.

Before passing his sentence, Justice Kissoon considered the circumstances of the crime and the fact that Bibi was the daughter of the victim.

According to the judge, Bibi was motivated by greed and wealth and in order to get her father’s assets she hired Lewis to carry out the crime.

The judge told the convicts that they will be taken to a lawful prison to suffer death in a manner authorised by law.

The state was represented by Senior State Prosecutor Lisa Cave, while attorneys-at-law Latchmie Rahamat and Roger Yearwood were on record for the accused.

It is alleged that Bibi not only hired Lewis to kill her father, but also helped him to gain access to his home on the day of the murder.

Reports are that when the “hitman” entered the businessman’s home, he found the elderly businessman sitting in a chair, and proceeded to strike him repeatedly, causing him to later succumb to his injuries at a hospital.

Bibi was charged along with another man, shortly after the murder was committed, but they were both discharged by a magistrate due to insufficient evidence. Lewis, who had fled to the “interior”, was arrested by the police two years later.

Word is that the police got a breakthrough in the case after Lewis and four others were detained for the murder of Mohamed Munir, 75, and his wife Bibi Jamila Munir, 69, who were reportedly burnt to death at their Good Hope, East Bank Essequibo home in 2016.

While in custody, someone tipped off investigators that Lewis had vital information about Habiboodean’s death. He allegedly confessed and told the police that he was paid by Bibi to kill her father.

Shortly after, Bibi turned herself in to the police, and reportedly provided investigators with a statement that was consistent with that given by her father’s alleged killer. Bibi and Lewis were later charged.