PETER CHRISTOPHER
peter.christopher@guardian.co.tt
Five men were sentenced to death by hanging after a jury found them guilty, after lengthy deliberation, of the kidnapping and murder of Dr Edward Khoury.
High Court Judge Malcolm Holdip passed sentence on Shawn James, Caleb Donaldson, Jerome Murray, Terry Moore and Robert Franklyn at around 8:15 pm, more than six and half hours after he sent the jury to decide upon a verdict.
The 12-member jury took about four and a half hours to decide in the trial in total as there were two breaks in the deliberation process.
When the court reconvened just before 6 pm, Holdip revealed that the jury had requested clarity concerning the evidence of witness Myrtle McInnis.
The judge read both McInnis’ statement and her cross-examination by defence counsel Evans Welch in January, before asking the jury if they needed additional time to deliberate, which they accepted.
Shortly after 8 pm, the jury returned to the court and found each of the accused guilty of the Khoury’s murder.
Defence attorney Daniel Khan, who represented James in the case, urged the judge not to consider the death sentence as he pointed out that his client had spent 13 years in jail awaiting the trial.
None of the accused offered a statement to the court when called upon after being sentenced, with a couple of them simply giving reassuring looks to relatives who stood the back of the court as they left.
Khoury was abducted from his import and distribution company in the Macoya Industrial Estate on September 21, 2005, by four men who entered the premises and demanded guns and money. Khoury initially resisted but was stabbed by his attackers and taken from the premises.
Two days later, his decapitated body was found in an abandoned citrus plantation in central Trinidad.
During the trial, which lasted just over a year and month, the jury heard several testimonies.
Shawn James, who confessed to the act after being arrested, helped plan the kidnapping and was responsible for disposing of the body after Khoury died. He told police he could not get into contact with his accomplices and went to a house in D’Abadie where they were staying and saw them being arrested mere hours after the kidnapping. He was the only one to confess.
James said he went to Mosquito Creek in a car rented by Franklin with Khoury’s body where he cut off the head and threw it into the sea. He then drove to Caparo where he abandoned Koury’s corpse in an abandoned citrus orchard.
Traces of Khoury’s blood were found on the shoes and clothing of five, as well as the trunk of the car rented by ex-police officer Franklin. Fingerprints were also found in the stolen taxi that was used in Khoury’s kidnapping.
