HIGH Court Judge, Simone Morris-Ramlall, on Wednesday, upheld a no-case submission and later dismissed the charge against two men who were accused of murdering a Gafoors’ manager, Terry Lackhan, in 2016.

David Outar, 27, formerly of First Street, Herstelling, and Patrick Ross, 29, formerly of Foulis, East Coast Demerara, were on trial at the Demerara High Court for the capital offence of murder.

They denied that, on July 21, 2016, they murdered Lackhan during the course or furtherance of a robbery.

The men were represented by attorneys Stacy Goodings and Adrian Thompson. Evidence was led by state counsel Muntaz Ali and Simran Gajraj.

The men’s attorneys made a no-case submission and called for the indictment to be dismissed on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

The judge later upheld the submission and stated that the state had failed to establish a prima facie case against the accused for the offence of murder.

She then ordered the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.

Lackhan was a manager at Gafoors Industries Limited and was found dead, in his wardrobe, with a rope tied around his neck, shortly after a male was seen exiting the home with several bags.

Several bottles of tablets and photographs of his family members were nearby, as part of attempts by the murderer to make the man’s death look like a suicide.

His only child, Riyad Lackhan, had told reporters that he was in Berbice when he received a call from a tenant who lives in the lower flat of the building where his father resided.

He said the woman informed him that there was a commotion upstairs; that was around 21:00 hours on the day in question.

According to the son, the tenant later informed him that someone was seen leaving with several bags and he [the son] later returned a call and asked the tenant to venture upstairs and check on his father.

The woman then called and revealed that his father was found motionless on the bed next to a wardrobe.

According to him, his father was in the habit of knocking down objects around the house whenever he was intoxicated and he noted that the tenant assumed that was the case that evening.

“But after she saw someone leaving with bags… that’s when she got scared,” the man’s son had said.

A neighbour related that persons in the area saw someone in a three-quarter pants walking out the street after 22:00 hours on the night in question.

He said the individual’s presence seemed odd. Lackhan’s front door, which was slightly ajar, aroused further suspicion.

Lackan’s son said that his father, who had been a manager at Gafoors for several years, was not experiencing any problems.