Twenty-seven-year-old Joshua Cornnell of South Vryhied’s Lust, East Coast Demerara (ECD), who had confessed to murdering Dimas Emilia Lezama Fermin and Rosella Smith, was on Monday arraigned for the heinous crimes when he made a virtual appearance before Magistrate Christel Lambert at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court.
Murder accused: Joshua Cornnell
He was not required to plead to the indictable charges when they were read to him and was remanded to prison until December 17, 2020.
It was reported that Fermin’s body was found on October 4, 2020, in a mining pit at Big Hope Backdam, Cuyuni, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni). It was suspected that she was raped, beaten, strangled to death and dumped.
Following the discovery, Cornnell and a dredge owner were arrested since it was reported that the now dead woman had shared an intimate relationship with the dredge owner and Cornnell, with whom she had worked.
On the day the woman met her demise, the dredge owner said he had left her at the camp cooking while he and the workers left to go to the landing, where they began consuming alcohol at a shop.
Cornnell was also among the group consuming alcohol, but he left the gathering and claimed that he was going to take a bath. The dredge owner was subsequently released, but the miner was further detained for questioning.
However, as Police continued their interrogation on Saturday, Cornnell told the investigators that when he returned to the campsite, he took a “pill” and became “delirious”. He said at that time he had seen Fermin and had asked her for sex, but she refused.
The murder suspect further told Police that he then attacked and raped the woman, strangling her in the process. He admitted to dumping her body in a pit aback the camp after realising that Fermin was dead.
Fermin’s body was discovered the following day clad in a blue jersey, without any underwear. Multiple marks of violence in the form of hematomas were seen about her body, the police said.
Meanwhile, investigators explained that during the investigations, they found striking similarities between Fermin’s murder and that of Smith, whose body was found on May 15 in a mining pit at Karrau Backdam, Mazaruni.
On the day in question, Police had found the woman’s camp ransacked and persons claimed that they saw a man leaving the backdam with a bag and bucket.
An autopsy performed on her remains proved that she died as a result of asphyxiation due to drowning compounded by compression injuries to the neck.
In the midst of the interrogation, the miner also admitted to killing Smith. He told investigators that he strangled the vendor to death during an argument over some raw gold that she had allegedly stolen from him.
