Berbice engineer now charged, remanded for murder of fiancée

Berbice engineer Neil Madramootoo, who had previously been charged with attempted murder for the shooting injury of his fiancée Ashmin Mahadeo, is now facing a murder charge following the death of the 32-year-old woman.
The 29-year-old resident of Shoe Lane in New Amsterdam Berbice appeared before New Amsterdam Magistrate Peter Hugh to answer the new charge, accusing him of murdering Mahadeo of Williamsburg, Corentyne between October and November 13. He was not required to plea to the indictable charge, and has been remanded to prison until November 22.
Madramootoo was represented by Attorney Nigel Hughes, who informed the court that he had interviewed Mahadeo while she was hospitalised, and called on the prosecution to include that evidence in its case.

Following the court hearing, Hughes told Guyana Times the defence is hoping the Police would have a full scientific investigation done into Mahadeo’s death.
“I am hoping that we have advanced from where they are just relying on statements from people who alleged that they were present,” he said.
The attorney has said he believes that science provides a much stronger basis for a case.
“I know that, prior to her death, Miss Mahadeo had requested and retained an attorney-at-law, who interviewed her and who received instructions from her prior to her death; and I brought that to the attention of the court and the prosecution, so that the Police can follow up with that and get that information and include it in the file,” he said.

Hughes has said there are several bits of scientific evidence that would be presented to the court, including the gunshot wound and the trajectory of the warhead which went through the body of the deceased.
That information, he said, is vital to the case.
“It is my hope generally that we have migrated beyond the gathering of elementary evidence,” he declared.
Madramootoo had previously been charged with attempted murder of the woman, and had been released on $500,000 bail. However, after the woman succumbed to her injuries on Monday, he surrendered to the Police and new charges were instituted.
Mahadeo took her last breath at the New Amsterdam Hospital after battling for her life for more than a month. She had initially been hospitalised at the Georgetown Public Hospital, but had been transferred to New Amsterdam in a decision her brother Narish Mahadeo said had been taken by GPHC.
Mahadeo was shot in her neck at her Williamsburg, Corentyne home on October 1.
At the time of the shooting, the couple were packing items in Madramootoo’s company vehicle to be taken to a location in Port Mourant where the couple’s bridal shower/reception had been expected to take place.
It has been reported that the fiancé had initially told the woman’s relatives that he did not know what had transpired, and had even suggested that she was shot during a robbery. (Andrew Carmichael)