Oxford Street double murder trial: Two accused deny killing woman, husband in 2005

TWO of the three men on trial for the murder of Susan Rajcoomar and her common-law husband Shyam Ramdass in 2005 have testified in their defence, insisting they had nothing to do with killing the Port of Spain couple.

Kamau Farai and Hamid Neils both testified at their trial before Justice Maria Wilson in the Port of Spain Fourth Criminal Court.

Both men denied knowing Rajcoomar or going to her house at 4 Oxford Street on January 12, 2005, with Devon Sookoo and shooting and chopping her and chopping Ramdass.

In his cross-examination, Farai said he knew Rajcoomar’s son Johan, who was also shot in the face during the attack at his mother’s home, because they were both charged with an offence in 2004.

He denied threatening to kill Johan or to burn down his house because he believed Johan gave a statement to police implicating him.

Accused by senior prosecutor Joy Balkaran of “telling a bunch of lies,” Farai insisted he was telling the truth.

He said that morning, he met a friend, Onika James, at Lastique Street, Port of Spain, to offer her support and was willing to lose a day's work for it. He worked with the Unemployment Relief Programme.

James, who is now a police officer, testified in his defence that she met Farai and together they went to her grandmother’s house at Quarry Street, East Dry River. After she consoled her grandmother, she said she met her brother Victor and she, Farai and Victor walked to the Port of Spain General Hospital, where she was shown the body of her other brother, Atiba David.

His body was in a hearse at the morgue, and after speaking to someone, they unzipped a body bag and she identified Atiba.

The three of them stayed at the hospital for almost 40 minutes as she was shown the bloodied car bonnet of a policeman who passed by the hospital and showed her his car, after speaking to her.

In his testimony, Neils said that morning he was at home at Lastique Street when his father woke him at about 9 am, telling him about the gunshots down the road. He said he washed his face and went outside to work on the chicken coop he and his father were building with the help of a man who was staying in their yard.

Neils said they finished building the coop at about 3 pm, and knew nothing about the incident at Oxford Street.

Under cross-examination by prosecutor Giselle Heller-Ferguson, Neils denied shooting Johan in the face and then turning the gun on Rajcoomar. He also denied walking over her and shooting her three more times before joining Farai and Sookoo in beating Ramdass and chopping him.

Neils said he had no reason to be on Oxford Street, and did not frequent there, as he had no reason to.

He also denied having earlier gone to Rajcoomar’s home to deliver a message for Farai that his court matter with Yohan had been dismissed earlier that morning.

Johan, who was killed on October 19, 2017, in a statement to police six days after the incident, allegedly implicated the three men in his parents’ murder.

He also allegedly told a cousin, who was at the scene of the attack, that “Hamid” had shot him and his mother. His deposition was tendered into evidence at the men’s trial.

Rajcoomar, 51, was shot and chopped on the head, neck and hands and died minutes after the attack. Ramdass, 52, who was also shot and had his left hand severed, died later at the Port of Spain General Hospital.

When the case resumes today, Sookoo is expected to also testify in his defence.

Farai is represented by attorney Larry Williams, while Neils is represented by Ravi Rajcoomar and Sookoo by Kirk Hogan.