Wedding house murder suspect remanded after nine years on the run

A man accused of brutally stabbing a father of two to death during a wedding house brawl nearly a decade ago was remanded to prison on Thursday, bringing a long-awaited step toward justice for the victim’s grieving family.
Dave Ramnauth, also known as “Shandy,” a 28-year-old fisherman of Lot ‘B’ 21 Portuguese Quarter, Port Mourant, appeared before Magistrate Michelle Mathias at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Courts, where he was charged with the murder of Surendra “Sham” Nauth, who was killed in 2016 during a violent altercation at a wedding celebration in Williamsburg, Corentyne.

The charge, which is indictable and falls under common law, was not required to be answered by the accused. Ramnauth was remanded to prison, and the matter was adjourned to July 15, at the Albion Magistrate’s Court for report and statements.
The incident occurred on January 17, 2016, at a wedding house in Williamsburg backdam, where 29-year-old Nauth, a labourer at the Albion Sugar Estate had gone to visit his wife’s relatives. Despite his brother’s warnings to stay home, Nauth left his Albion home that night to briefly attend the event.
According to his brother Rabindra Nauth, who spoke with the media, Surendra had earlier called twice, prompting him to head to the wedding location, where he saw Surendra dancing. Moments later, chaos erupted.
Eyewitnesses said a man, now believed to be Ramnauth, had allegedly slashed the tyres of a car parked outside. When confronted, the suspect reportedly became enraged and attacked Nauth’s brother-in-law, Totaram Bhola, 25, slashing him across the forehead. He then stabbed Surendra Nauth in the abdomen, causing the father of two to collapse.
Rabindra, who chased the suspect without realising his brother had been injured, said he later returned to find Surendra unconscious in the back seat of a car. He was rushed to the Port Mourant Hospital, then transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. Bhola was critically wounded but survived.
The suspect, before the incident was recently released from prison for a wounding conviction. Police quickly identified him but believed he had fled the country, possibly to Suriname, and efforts to capture him over the years were unsuccessful, until now.
New intelligence led officers to a home in Stanleytown, Berbice where the suspect was arrested on June 22. He was then formally charged with murder and taken before the court that same day.