Tuschen barber appeals death penalty for murders of businesswoman, 2 sons

The Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), barber who is on death row for the murders of West Coast Demerara (WCD) businesswoman Jennifer Persaud and her two juvenile sons has made an application at the Court of Appeal to overturn his convictions and death sentence.

Following a trial before Justice Sandil Kissoon in June 2021, a 12-member jury found that between September 21 and 22, 2012, at Anna Catherina, WCD, Abishai Caesar murdered the 41-year-old woman and her sons: Afridi Bacchus, six; and 18-month-old Jadon Ernest.
The convicted killer was subsequently sentenced to death on the three counts of murder. A Notice of Appeal listing four grounds has been filed at the Court of Appeal by him. In the documents, the killer not only claimed that his sentences are severe, but that he had an unfair trial.
Seeking to set aside his conviction and sentence, Caesar argued that he was given “poor representation” during his trial. His attorney-at-law at that time was Racheal Bakker. Also, without outlining any details, he complains that a conflict of interest arose in his case.
State Prosecutor Lisa Cave had told the jury that during September 2012, Caesar resided with his reputed wife Zoey Phillips at Anna Catherina, and were Persaud’s neighbours.
According to the prosecutor, between September 21 and 22, 2012, Caesar told his reputed wife that he was going over to the woman’s house because he wanted money and that he would return after getting it.
When he returned home, the prosecutor said, Caesar told his reputed wife what he had done to Persaud and her two children. The next day, the lifeless bodies of Persaud and her two sons were discovered by her father in their home, the prosecutor added.
According to Cave, the Police conducted investigations, and on April 22, 2016, Phillips went to the Police station and reported that her spouse had confided in her about killing the family. He was subsequently arrested and charged with the murders.
It was reported that Phillips told detectives a short while after Caesar had gone over to the woman’s house, she had heard screams.
Phillips informed the Police that Caesar had gone to steal the woman’s money, but whilst doing so, she woke up and saw him. Because Persaud would be able to identify him, Phillips said, Caesar told her that he was forced to kill Persaud and her sons. They were found with their throats slit.
Phillips was the prosecution’s main witness in Caesar’s trial. He was initially tried for the murders in 2019, that trial, however, ended in a hung jury. As such, a retrial was ordered for him.
“This crime that was committed by Abishai Caesar is a despicable, unparalleled act of cold-blooded ruthless savagery, where an entire family…was meticulously and methodically brutally executed while [they] were in the security of their home,” Justice Kissoon had said in his sentencing remarks.
The Judge told Caesar that he treated life and death meaninglessly. Considering this, the Judge said to Caesar, “It is only right, it is only proper, and it is only just, in view of your horrific crimes, having regard to the exceptional and specific circumstances, that…you be sentenced to death.”
The Judge, in imposing the capital punishment, considered that it was a crime of extreme violence, as the victims’ major organs sustained knife-inflicted injuries.
The businesswoman’s father, Kumar Persaud, who had earlier testified to finding the lifeless bodies of his daughter and grandsons, expressed satisfaction with the verdict of the jury. “I’m happy with the verdict…Justice has been served. My daughter and grandsons can finally rest in peace”.
A probation report revealed that Caesar, who was once a teacher, was also enlisted in the Guyana Defence Force (GDF). It was noted therein that he served three months’ imprisonment for assaulting his reputed wife. Besides that, he received favourable reports from prison officials.
Caesar remains on death row pending the hearing and determination of his appeal