Hamid Latiff also called “Crapo” of Cane Grove, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara, who reportedly stabbed his reputed wife’s brother to death outside a wedding house in 2013 has been freed of murder.
Hamid Latiff
In dramatic scenes outside the High Court on Thursday, Latiff leaped to freedom after he was cleared of the November 8, 2013 murder of Mulchand Murilall, 16.
Murilall was reportedly defending his sister Bhagmattie “Vashtie” Murilall against Latif with whom she shared a relationship. Latiff’s acquittal for the fatal stabbing followed a unanimous decision by a 12-member mixed jury after a one hour deliberation on Thursday afternoon.
Mulchand Murilall
The jury foreman told the court that his team collectively found the defendant not guilty on the charge of murder. On a possibility of the lesser count of manslaughter, the jury was also unanimous in their decision that the accused was not guilty of the indictable crime.
After the decision was handed down, Justice Jo-Ann Barlow encouraged the former murder-accused to use the opportunity to avoid trouble, pointing out that sometimes, “trouble comes and finds you”.
After being freed, Latiff brushed past his relatives and with great exuberance swiftly proceeded to his waiting car after two years of incarceration for the capital offence.
Throughout the week-long trial, a number of discrepancies were found in several witness’ statements. The court took particular note of the lack of credibility in the testimony of Latiff’s reputed wife Vashtie, who attempted to cover up the fact that she shared a relationship and a child with a police officer who was present at her brother’s murder scene.
In the summation of tendered evidence in the trial at Thursday morning session, Justice Barlow also stressed the lack of credibility when Vashtie claimed that her relationship with the officer only began in December 2015 when in fact, the police officer had fathered her son over a year ago.
During the trial, Vashtie told the court that the child’s birth was never registered but medical records proved otherwise. Under cross-examination by Defence Counsel Bernard De Santos, the woman denied that she had formed a relationship with the officer while she was still with Latiff.
The witness had also admitted that she did not see the stabbing of her brother as she was some distance away, hearing tassa drums. However, Bhagmattie “Vashtie” Murilall did claim that she heard someone in the distance say “ow” on that fateful night.
It was also revealed that the officer, with whom Vashtie has shared a relationship, was the first police rank to arrive on the scene after her brother had met his demise. However the jury had to consider the fact White (father of the said child) also “covered up” the relationship with Vashtie as well as the existence of their child.
The jurors also considered that while White did not actually conduct investigations of the crime, he preserved the evidence until the police detectives had arrived on the scene.
The testimony of Safraz Hussein who was said to be a valid witness also had credibility issues as he withheld the fact that he was using “ganja” on the night he witnessed the stabbing. Hussein who was 18 at that time testified that he actually saw when the deceased teenager was stabbed. However jurors had to consider that in the lower court, he had told the presiding Magistrate that he only smoked cigarettes.
Before the jurors were allowed to deliberate, Defence Counsel De Santos reminded the court that his client “did not admit to anything” nor was he bearing any responsibly for Murrilall’s stabbing. This was premised on the unsworn statement that Latiff gave when he had taken the stand. The defendant claimed that he was attacked with “a paling stave affixed with nails” but however declined claiming self-defence. Despite this, Latiif had testified that it was another witness, Rajesh “Alligator Man” Liloutie who had inflicted injures the teenager suffered after “the boy jumped between” the two of them (Latiff and Liloutie).
Justice Barlow had reminded the jurors that they would have not been making a determination on whether or not “Alligator Man” caused the boy’s death but that they should focus on the facts surrounding the accused. Latiff had also alleged that it was Liloutie who threw the young man overboard.
However the court learnt that police never investigated that version of events. Rather, the investigators placed prime emphasis on the version that “Crapo” stabbed the boy.
Meanwhile Liloutie had earlier testified that he had seen the former murder-accused “shove something” in the deceased’s body after which Latiff had thrown him overboard. The court had however heard that “Alligator Man” had not seen what “Crapo” had shoved into the murdered man’s body.
The 12 jurors who freed “Crapo” were told that the pathologist did not find water in the victim’s body.
In 2013, it was reported that an argument had ensued between Latiff and Murilall which led to the young man being fatally stabbed to his chest and under his left arm.
Sometime after the stabbing, Latiff was nabbed by Police at Springlands while allegedly trying to escape to neighbouring Suriname.
