MORE than two decades after evading justice, 57-year-old Philbert Thomas was on Thursday sentenced to 24 years’ imprisonment for the 1998 murder of his wife, Viola Thomas.
He entered the guilty plea, with explanation, before Justice Simone Morris at the High Court in Demerara.
The convict will become eligible for parole only after serving a minimum of 20 years.
To support his rehabilitation, the court ordered that he participate in prison programmes focused on literacy, alcohol management, and domestic violence.
The brutal killing occurred on September 5, 1998, at a fun day event in Waini, North West District, Essequibo, where 23-year-old Viola was reportedly attacked and stabbed multiple times by Thomas.
Following the incident, Thomas went into hiding, and successfully evaded law enforcement for more than 20 years.
His long run from justice came to an end in 2019, when he was arrested in Region Ten in connection with another stabbing. That arrest triggered renewed investigations into Viola’s murder, and led to his prosecution.
According to a police press release, Thomas was in 2019 remanded to prison on two counts of inflicting grievous bodily harm following a stabbing incident at Hururu Mission, Berbice.
In that case, he reportedly stabbed his ex-girlfriend and her reputed partner during an argument on August 14, 2019.
A breakthrough in the cold case came when Alina, Viola’s mother and a resident of the North West District, saw a photo of Philbert Thomas in a daily newspaper.
Recognising the man as her daughter’s killer, she immediately went to the Acquero Police Station and made a report, which further aided in confirming his identity and linking him to the decades-old crime.
Police stated that during his detention for the recent attack, Thomas confessed to the 1998 murder of his wife.