A Mazaruni man was on Thursday last sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment after a jury trial in the Suddie Supreme Court.
The defendant, who was identified as Arthur Taylor, was found guilty by the jury for the murder of Wayne Johnson. The sentencing was given by Judge Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.
Arthur Taylor
Taylor was convicted of stabbing Johnson once with a knife to the left side of his chest, penetrating the heart on August 2, 2014. The defendant, however, claimed that Johnson fell on a broken bottle, and died as a result of the injuries sustained.
According to Taylor, on the day in question, an argument erupted between him and the now deceased man on the Itaballi landing over the defendant’s wife. The accused later added that there was a scuffle between himself and Johnson. He further told the jury that he acted in self-defence as Johnson was firing chops at him with a cutlass. At some point, however, the cutlass fell into the water, leaving Johnson unarmed. The accused said that as Johnson rushed towards him, he swung him onto his stomach. The two men later took the fight overboard with Johnson on top of the defendant in a choke lock. Taylor said the fight ended when Chris Gibs pulled Johnson off him in the water.
Gibs, who testified, related what he witnessed. “I heard a splash down at the landing, so I took my torch light and I went out to see what was going on. When I went out, I saw Wayne Johnson on top of the accused in a choke lock. I yelled at them multiple times and told them to stop,” Gibs said, adding “The water was becoming reddish, so when the accused pushed off Wayne Johnson, I rushed him to my boat to get medical attention.”
The Police after escorting Johnson to the Bartica hospital, found no murder weapon at the crime scene.
Johnson was pronounced dead by a doctor at the Bartica Regional Hospital. The doctor in question noted that the now deceased sustained a single stab wound to the left chest about 11 centimetres in depth. The following day, Police retrieved a brown kitchen knife, with a missing rivet. The accused claimed the weapon was his on account of the missing rivet. He denies, however, stabbing the now deceased with the weapon.
The defendant’s attorney was unable to prove to the court that his client was innocent, and that the now deceased man did indeed die, after receiving a stab from a broken bottle. The Prosecutor noted that the new deceased could by no means fall on a bottle and sustain the injury when he was in a choke lock on top of the accused all the while. The Prosecutor also noted that there was a narrow probability that a bottle could make a single 11cm stab wound.
After deliberating on the evidence for more than an hour, the jury found the murder accused guilty by 10 to 2. The Judge then sentenced the accused to serve 20 years in prison. Taylor was previously tried in 2016 before another panel. (Indra Natram)
