THE High Court trial into the murder of 58-year-old Fazal Shaheed, who was shot and killed during a break-in at his Freeman Street, East La Penitence family home, commenced on Wednesday.

Shawn DosSantos and Stephon Howard, both of Freeman Street, appeared before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow at the Demerara High Court and pleaded not guilty to the capital offence.

The pair denied murdering Shaheed, a Berbice businessman, during the course of a robbery on September 24, 2017.

The indictment was presented by State Prosecutor, Cicelia Corbin.  The two accused are being represented by attorneys-at-law  Nigel Hughes, Konyo Sandiford and associates.

A jury was empanelled and the trial commenced with the testimony of a number of police and civilian witnesses.

The Guyana Chronicle had reported that, on Sunday, September 24, 2017, gunmen stormed Shaheed’s home while relatives were making final preparations for the patriarch’s one-year memorial service.

Fazal Shaheed was reportedly in the yard at around 00:40 hours when the gunmen struck while his two brothers, sisters and mother were in the house. His brothers, Talim and Shalim, who had come in from Canada and the US respectively for the service, were both shot about their bodies.

The suspects reportedly told the police that the gun that was used in the commission of the crime was borrowed from a friend.

They reportedly claimed that after seeing “strange faces” in the street, and having learnt that the persons were foreigners, they planned the robbery.