Linden farmer jailed for 7 years for killing couple

A farmer who admitted to killing his former reputed wife and her new partner was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment on Wednesday by Justice Navindra Singh.
Fifty-one-year-old Maxwell Usher, formerly of Wismar, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), was initially charged with the murders of Imogene Gordon, 49, and her boyfriend Royston John, 43, which took place on March 18, 2020, at the woman’s home.
At his arraignment at the Demerara High Court on July 17, Usher, upon consulting with his Attorney-at-Law Teriq Mohammed, opted to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter.
In sentencing the confessed killer, Justice Singh commenced at a starting point of 24 years per deceased and went on to make deductions for mitigating factors and the early guilty pleas.

In the end, Usher was sentenced to seven years in prison on each of the two counts, and the sentences are to run concurrently. The Prison Service was ordered to credit him for time spent on remand. State Counsel Caressa Henry prosecuted this matter.
The bodies of Gordon, of Lot 177 Prosville, Wismar, Linden, and John, of Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), were discovered about 21:00h on March 18, 2020, at the woman’s home with multiple stab wounds after Police were summoned to the scene.
John was reportedly discovered lying on his back at the door of the lower flat of the incomplete two-storey building while Gordon was discovered lying face down in the lower flat.
Post-mortem examinations conducted on the bodies of the two revealed that they died as a result of multiple incise wounds which included cuts and stabs.

Police, who were summoned to the scene, had discovered a knife some six feet away from Gordon’s body. On the day in question, a neighbour had recalled hearing Gordon screaming prior to the bodies being discovered while indicating that calls to her cell phone went unanswered.
The neighbour then called the Wisroc Police Outpost and lodged a report.
Usher was arrested a day after the killings.
Guyana Times was informed that Gordon and Usher had shared a common-law union and that she had taken out a protection order against him.
As such, he was prohibited from occupying his own home, because Gordon was still residing there.
On the fatal day, he had reportedly gone to the premises to visit his farm, which is located on a plot of land at the back of his home, but John, who was at the time visiting Gordon, told him that he could not enter the yard. As such, Usher and John had a heated exchange of words which led to a scuffle. Upon seeing this, Gordon reportedly rushed outside with a knife which she gave to John. Gordon and John reportedly teamed up and attacked Usher, who managed to disarm John. He then stabbed Gordon and her new partner.
Information revealed that about a week prior to her demise, Gordon had filed a Police complaint against Usher after he had threatened to chop off her hands and feet.
He was subsequently arrested and charged in connection with these allegations and was later jailed for six months and placed on a bond to keep the peace after pleading guilty. (G1)