Ex-soldier who beheaded uncle appeals life sentence

Dwayne Tappin, 30, the ex-soldier who was found guilty of beheading his uncle, has filed an appeal against his conviction for murder and life sentence at the Guyana Court of Appeal. In 2019, Tappin was found guilty by a jury of the August 6, 2017 murder of his 51-year-old uncle Randolph Seenauth. Justice Sandil Kissoon sentenced him to life and set his eligibility for parole at 40 years.
It was reported that on the day in question, Seenauth’s head was found lying between the living room and kitchen of his Better Hope, East Coast Demerara (ECD) house. His body was later found in the bedroom. The gruesome discovery was made after Police ranks were summoned to the scene by neighbours who heard a loud commotion in the man’s home which he shared with his nephew.
“Sir this is what happen. Me guh at me uncle at Lot 125 South Better Hope where me mother use to live, but me mother move out and I get a key for the house…every time I go there, he [Seenauth] always attacking me when I go there. When I go there, he attack me with a cutlass after I open the door with me key…I suspect he was drunk so I tek way the cutlass from he and fire three chops…I then throw way the cutlass in the cane field at the back of Better Hope,” Tappin said in a caution statement.

During a sentencing hearing for Tappin, the now dead man was described as a very joyful and hardworking individual. The court heard that the two men would normally fight, especially when they were both drunk. Seenauth, despite suffering from epilepsy, did odd jobs around his neighbourhood to sustain himself. A probation report noted that Tappin, who was not academically inclined, left school in the tenth grade.
Thereafter, he held several jobs before enlisting in the Guyana Defence Force (GDF). Up to the time he murdered his uncle, Tappin did farming. In sentencing the convict, Justice Kissoon considered the fact that he professed his innocence even after he was found guilty by a jury of his peers and gave a confession statement to the Police. The Judge ordered that the convict be exposed to programmes that will aid in his rehabilitation. (G1)