Life sentences without the possibility of parole were yesterday handed down on three men who pleaded guilty to murdering a La Horquetta taxi driver ten years ago. Justice Andre Mon Desir said Alexander Don Juan Nicholas, 36, Gregory Tan, 35, and Oren Lewis, 31, displayed "callous, reckless indifference for human life." The mandatory sentence for murder is death by hanging, but the guilty pleas of the accused were accepted as a result of a 2011 Privy Council judgment.
The State, represented by attorney Sabrina Dougdeen, accepted the pleas in the San Fernando Third Assizes on October 25 on the basis of the felony rule. In the Privy Council ruling, the lawlords stated that the death sentence was unconstitutional, quashing the sentence imposed on convicted killer Nimrod Miguel and remitted the matter for sentencing.
Justice Mon Desir who wrote the 67-page judgment said the matter gave the court the greatest degree of challenge. "The fact is in our society, the vulnerability of taxi drivers, persons plying their trade, routinely robbed, hijacked and then their lives taken. The court does not intend to send a signal to society that such conduct must be tolerated," the judge said.
Nicholas, Tan and Lewis admitted to killing Jerry David Boodoo on a day unknown between August 26 and September 2, 2002 and dumping his body in a Mayaro river. The trio wanted Boodoo's car to sell for its parts. The state's case was that the trio pretended to be passengers and then hijacked Boodoo. Nicholas drove Boodoo's car while the other two beat him in the back seat.
Boodoo begged for his life, telling them that to take his car and spare his life because he had a child to care for. Tan and Lewis then used Boodoo's own belt to choke him. He was gasping and then a crack was heard. They put Boodoo's body in the trunk and went to the gas station where they bought snacks with the $63 they stole from the driver. The men then threw Boodoo's body into the Mayaro river.
The accused were represented by attorneys Larry Williams, Lennox Sanguinette and Richard Valere instructed by attorney Marisa Bubb. Noting the actions of the accused after the murder, they said they went about negotiating a sale for the car and three days later they hijacked and robbed another taxi driver, Nazim Dean.
For that crime the trio was sentenced to eight years for robbery, six years for kidnapping and six years for false imprisonment. Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard said the death penalty cannot be imposed against offenders found guilty of murder in a specific category of cases where the prosecution is based solely on the legal doctrine of a violent arrestable offence- murder, thus this country's version of the felony murder rule.
The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
