Paper committal proceedings for 2 accused of killing medical doctor

There are now ongoing paper committal proceedings regarding the joint charge against two men for the murder of Dr Colin Roach.
Lenrick Mosai Byass and Hilton Oliver Junior Franklin were taken before Magistrate Rhondell Weever at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Friday last.
On November 2, 2021, they are accused of killing 49-year-old Roach of Windsor Estates, East Bank Demerara (EBD), in the course or furtherance of a robbery.
They have

not been required to plead to this indictable charge.

A paper committal is when the witnesses’ statements and documentary evidence are tendered without the witnesses being present in court and are inventoried and marked as exhibits.
During Friday’s hearing, several witnesses’ statements were tendered, inventoried, and marked as exhibits. Franklin’s attorney, Latchmie Rahamat, and Byass’s attorney, Dexter Smartt, have asked to question the Police investigators who obtained caution statements from their clients.
The next court date, October 26, has been set aside for the tendering of exhibits.
The two murder accused have been on remand since November 9, 2021.
Byass of Good Intent Village, West Bank Demerara (WBD), and Franklin of Best Village, West Coast Demerara (WCD), were charged just after the file of evidence compiled by Police as part of the investigation into the murder, was submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Initially, two of the doctor’s employees were arrested and questioned about the murder but were subsequently released since the Police did not find any evidence linking them to the crime.

This was followed by Police making a breakthrough in the murder after Franklin was arrested while attempting to flee to Suriname and allegedly confessed to the crime.
It was reported that he was a friend of the medical practitioner, who was found in a pool of blood in his Duke Street, Kingston, Georgetown, Georgetown International Medical Clinic.
Following his arrest, he reportedly confessed to inflicting the fatal wound on the doctor but also implicated Byass, whom he claimed assisted him.
Law enforcement officers also recovered two gold rings, a sum of cash, and a cell phone that belonged to Dr Roach which was reportedly stolen from him on the night he was murdered.
The doctor’s Audi SUV was discovered abandoned at Schoonord, WBD, with the number plate and key missing. Dr Roach’s cause of death was given as multiple blunt traumas to the head. (G1)