“If I coulda bring her back to life… I woulda bring her back to life” – wife killer tells court

…to spend 4 more years in jail

Having been on remand since June 2012 for his wife’s killing, 75-year-old Gordon Leslie Durant will have to spend four more years behind bars for the heinous crime following the sentence handed down on Thursday by Demerara High Court Judge Jo Ann Barlow.

Initially indicted for the murder of his wife, 50-year-old Joan Durant, the man took responsibility for the act, pleading guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. In calculating an appropriate sentence for the convict, Justice Barlow commenced at a base of 21 years.
Deductions were made amounting to 17 years – 10 years for time spent in pre-trial custody and another seven years (one-third of the base sentence) for his early guilty plea. His final sentence, therefore, was four years.

Facts
Joan’s body was found buried in the sand in an unfinished bathroom at her Melanie, East Coast Demerara (ECD) home on June 28, 2012, days after she was reported missing by her family.

According to reports, the convicted murderer had told detectives that his wife had packed her bags and moved out of their matrimonial home on June 26, 2012. But the woman’s relatives did not believe his story and reported her disappearance to the Police.
After a stench began emanating from the couple’s home, Joan’s relatives summoned Police ranks, who discovered her body buried in sand in the unfinished structure.
Durant, in a caution statement, had told Police Detectives that he and his wife were involved in a heated argument on June 26, 2012, and she slapped him and walked away.
The pensioner recalled that he grabbed his wife, but she fell and hit her head on a concrete block and thereafter lay motionless. Fearful of the consequences he would face if the woman’s body was found, Durant said he buried her and lied about her whereabouts.

“I am very sorry”
With the court accepting his unequivocal plea, Durant expressed that he was sorry for killing his beloved wife: “Whatever took place that day, it should not have happened,” he said.
“She attacked me; she cuffed me to my face and throw me down on the ground. I am very sorry for whatever happened. I am asking for a second chance in life so that I can continue to live a peaceful life in the community and peaceful life with my grandchildren and sons. If I coulda bring her back to life, I woulda bring her back to life,” the elderly man told the Judge.

Traumatised
Meanwhile, one of the dead woman’s sons shared that even though his mother died a decade ago, he still cried every time he remembered the condition in which her body was found. The young man expressed that this memory haunted him and has left him traumatised.
He said that his mother did not deserve to die like that. The deceased woman’s youngest child, Osafo London, on the other hand, said that he had lost faith in the justice system given the length of time it took for the matter to be called. But now that his mother’s killer has accepted guilt, the grieving man said that he wanted Durant to spend the rest of his life in jail.

Not intentional
The confessed killer’s lawyer, Dexter Smartt, during a mitigation plea, implored the court to temper justice with mercy given his client’s age and expression of remorse. According to Smartt, his client did not “intentionally” kill his wife.
For her part, Justice Barlow, in her sentencing remarks, said that it was unfortunate that the woman’s death stemmed from domestic violence. In calculating an appropriate sentence, she, among other things, considered that Joan was killed in the sanctity of her own home and that the concealment of her body was done out of fear and was not a prearranged plan.
A probation report revealed that Durant was well-loved in his neighbourhood and that he had insisted that his wife’s death was “accidental”. Attorneys-at-Law Latifiah Elliot, Marisa Edwards, and Simran Gajraj appeared on behalf of the prosecution.