THE man who was charged with killing a father and his daughter during a robbery at Better Hope, East Coast Demerara (ECD), has been freed.
The ruling was made earlier this month by the Demerara High Court, which declared that not enough evidence was available to allow 42-year-old Mocha, East Bank Demerara (EBD) resident Lloyd Sadloo to lead a defence.
Sadloo was on trial for the July 4, 2019 murders of Aaron Latchman, a 47-year-old moneychanger, and Arianna Latchman, his 18-year-old daughter, in front of Judge Jo Ann Barlow and a jury.
But Sadloo was exonerated of the crime after the Judge accepted his attorney Mark Waldron’s no-case submission.
Waldron contended in the submission that the prosecution’s case against his client was not sufficiently supported by the evidence. Following the submission, Justice Barlow accepted it and gave the 12-person jury instructions to return a formal not guilty verdict.
Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Tiffini Lyken, State Counsel Praneta Seeraj, and State Counsel Taneisha Saygon represented the prosecution. They called a number of witnesses to testify, including members of the public and police force and a doctor.
On July 4, 2019, robbers accosted Latchman and his daughter at their Better Hope house as they were returning from Georgetown, according to reports.
Witnesses described how the bandits approached businessman Latchman and demanded money and valuables. There was a scuffle between Latchman and the attackers when he resisted them.
Latchman and his daughter were hit by several gunshots fired during the incident. As the bandits made off with their possessions, they fell to the ground.
The injured father and daughter were transported to a city hospital, where they were declared dead upon arrival. Latchman had many gunshot wounds, according to an autopsy, whereas his daughter Arianna only had one fatal bullet wound.
Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman had sentenced Sadloo to four years in prison and fined him $300,000 on May 17, 2016, for trafficking in marijuana. On October 20, 2015 at Eccles, EBD, he had 1.452 kilogrammes of cannabis in his possession for the purpose of trafficking.
In the past, he was also accused of armed robbery, breaking and entering, escaping from police custody, and unlawfully possessing a gun and ammunition. In 2008, he was also accused of killing two miners from Brazil during a robbery. However, since there was not enough evidence to convict him, he was freed of those murders.
Meanwhile, Troy Abrams, 46, and Paul Chan, 41, are two more men who are currently awaiting trial for the murders of the father and daughter. Their case is anticipated to be called at the Demerara Criminal Assizes’ next sitting, which is slated for next month.
In 2016, Abrams was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for a gunpoint robbery committed on moneychangers Rayburn Fraser and Osaffo Ward on America Street, Georgetown on November 3, 2015. On the day in question, gunmen on motorbikes descended on Fraser and Ward and robbed them of over $2 million in local and foreign currency.
Sadloo, Abrams, Chan, Mark Rufino, and Sean Thomas were initially charged with the double murder at Better Hope. Reports state that in October 2020, Rufino, a 29-year-old labourer from Parika, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), escaped from Lusignan Prison. He is yet to be recaptured. Thomas was freed during the preliminary inquiry.
