After two weeks of trial at the High Court, Bryan “Big Foot” Leitch was on Tuesday found guilty of manslaughter by a unanimous 12-member jury. This decision was announced by the jury foreman who had earlier told the court that the defendant was not guilty of murder.
Leitch was originally indicted for murdering Joseph Jagdeo, the South-Central hotelier whose body was found bound and gagged at the guesthouse on November 14, 2013 in Room 10. Leitch was said to be the last known person to stay in Room 10. The prosecution contended that he committed the crime between November 13 and 14, 2013, at South Road, Georgetown after stealing the businessman’s cellphone.
The offender’s sentencing was delayed to facilitate the presentation of a probation report. As such, presiding Judge, Sandhill Kissoon adjourned the matter to May 2. After hearing the jury’s verdict, Leitch and his two relatives that were present in court were all on the verge of tears.
The jury’s determination meant that the panel disbelieved Leitch’s brief unsworn statement from the prisoner’s dock on Monday when he claimed that he was innocent of the crime. “I don’t know anything about any murder, I did not kill anybody,” he had observed.
The defendant’s Caution Statement (CS) alleged that Leitch was “sorry” for his actions. On December 1, 2013, retired Police Sergeant Phillip Bowman took the CS which quoted Leitch as saying that on the morning in question, Jagdeo came to his room and told him to leave the hotel which angered him.
“I was vexed and I tell he and I tie he hand and put a cloth around he mouth and tie it, I push he under the bed and put the room key on the bed. I then go to the office and took out he cellphone; I sorry for what happen, I didn’t go to kill he,” the excerpt from the CS had stated.
Kiana Garnett testified on Monday that on November 13, 2013, when Leitch asked her and Shantel DeJonge if they wanted to buy a cellphone. The witness stated that Leitch gave the phone to DeJonge and noted that the phone was black in colour.
State Counsels Mandell Moore and Lisa Cave appeared for the State while Attorneys Hewley Griffith and Lawrence Harris represented the defendant.
