Murder accused to undergo psychiatric evaluation before May court return

The man accused of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend before turning the weapon on himself in an apparent murder-suicide attempt, is to undergo a psychiatric evaluation ahead of his next court appearance.

On Tuesday, 47-year-old Ghalee Khan, a convicted drug trafficker and businessman of Henry Avenue, Lamaha Springs, Georgetown, was formally charged with the murder of 30-year-old Marissa Beete, at the time a staff member of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport. The charge was laid under common law.
Khan made his first court appearance before Magistrate Rondell Weever at the Wales Magistrates’ Court, where the indictable charge was read to him. He was not required to plead and was remanded to prison until May 27. However, the court ordered a psychiatric evaluation to determine his mental state at the time of the alleged offence, and to assess his fitness to stand trial.
The murder occurred at around 18:15 h on Tuesday, April 8, at Beete’s home at Lot 706 Recht-Door-Zee, Parfait Harmonie, West Bank Demerara, where Khan allegedly shot the young woman in the head following a brief conversation. Police reports indicate that Khan then attempted to take his own life with the same weapon.
According to investigators, Khan and Beete were in a romantic relationship for two years but had recently broken up following a disagreement. On the day of the incident, Khan reportedly called Beete and requested to speak with her. Despite warnings from her 62-year-old mother, who was present at the time, Beete allowed Khan into the house.
Moments later, the mother heard her daughter cry out, followed by a loud gunshot. She rushed into the living room to find Beete bleeding from a wound above her right eye and Khan standing nearby with a firearm in his hand. In her desperate attempt to disarm him, a second shot was fired in an unknown direction, and Khan allegedly shoved her to the ground before shooting himself in the head.
Public-spirited residents assisted in transporting both Beete and Khan to the hospital. Beete was pronounced dead on arrival. Police recovered a firearm and three live rounds of ammunition from the crime scene.
Khan’s name has long been associated with criminal activity, particularly in connection to the drug trade. In 2020, he was arrested in the United States after arriving at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on a drug trafficking charge. US law enforcement boarded the aircraft upon arrival and arrested Khan before he could leave the plane. He was later convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison, but served only 18 months after striking a plea deal with US authorities. He was subsequently deported to Guyana.
In 2008, he was arrested in Brooklyn, New York, for allegedly participating in a cocaine drop-off with another Guyanese national. He was granted bail but fled the jurisdiction and returned to Guyana, leading to the issuance of an arrest warrant in the US. In 2009, he also faced drug trafficking charges in Guyana.