Appeal Court to rule March 11 on Bartica massacre appeals

…including cases of 2 deceased convicts

The Guyana Court of Appeal has concluded hearings in the appeals stemming from convictions in the 2008 Bartica Massacre and is set to deliver its rulings on March 11.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in a release said that the appeals were heard on Wednesday. The matters before the court relate to Mark Royden Williams, Dennis Williams, Clebert Reece and Michael Caesar, who were convicted between 2016 and February 2017 for their roles in the killings of 12 persons during the February 17, 2008 attack in Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).
One other accused, Roger Simon, also known as “Goat Man”, was acquitted.
Mark Royden Williams and Dennis Williams died in 2023 and July 2024, respectively. Williams died in 2023 during a confrontation with the Joint Services in Region Seven, weeks after escaping from the Mazaruni Prison in a daring May 2023 breakout. It was his second escape from custody, having previously broken out of the Camp Street Prison in 2017 before being recaptured in October of that year on the Weldaad Public Road, West Coast Berbice. Dennis Williams, on the other hand, died in custody at the Mazaruni Prison after a period of illness.
Despite their deaths, appeals were filed on their behalf seeking to overturn their convictions by Attorney at Law Nigel Hughes.
Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Diana O’Brien, had argued that the continuation of those appeals was a waste of state resources and judicial time, given that both men are deceased. She had submitted that the right to appeal is created by statute and that the Court of Appeal Act does not provide for the continuation of an appeal after the death of an appellant.
In May 2025, Guyana Times had reported that Hughes had argued that the posthumous appeals should proceed to address the integrity of the convictions and the reputations of the deceased.
Clebert Reece, known as “Chichi”, and Michael Caesar, called “Capone”, had pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter. Reece was sentenced to 35 years’ imprisonment with eligibility for parole after serving 30 years. Caesar was sentenced to 60 years’ imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 40 years. Both men have also filed appeals against their convictions and sentences.
The Bartica Massacre occurred on February 17, 2008, when gunmen attacked the Bartica Police Station at First Avenue, Bartica, and other locations. Twelve persons were killed, including three Police Officers who were stationed at the Police Station at the time.