Woman freed of 2014 murder after dad dies in prison awaiting trial

CRIMINAL proceedings against a Cumuto man and his daughter accused of murdering his common-law partner have formally ended.

Sewak Jagroo, 58, was charged in August 2023 alongside his daughter Shastri Jagroo, 25, with the 2014 murder of Esther Williams, who was initially believed to have died by suicide.

During a hearing before Master Shabiki Cazabon on June 18, attorneys representing the State and the accused confirmed that a notice of discontinuance would be filed by that day. The court also ordered that Shastri be released upon the filing and service of the notice on prison authorities.

Sewak died in prison on January 1.

The notices were filed by Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard, SC, on June 18, for the Jagroos.

Williams, 54, was found dead at her home in Cumuto on April 18, 2014. At the time, police said both Jagroos allegedly reported to police that they discovered her body hanging and suggested she had taken her own life.

However, a post-mortem later revealed that Williams had died from ligature strangulation and had sustained blunt traumatic injuries inconsistent with suicide. The case remained unsolved for years until the Cold Case Unit, led by acting ASP Sean Dhillpaul, reopened the investigation.

With the help of Sgt Sean Williams and Cpl Shawn Gordon, charges were eventually laid in 2023 following legal advice from the DPP, a release from the police service said. The Jagroos were arrested on August 29, 2023, at McBean, Couva.

At the time, it was said the case was the eleventh murder case solved by the Cold Case Unit since it was established in 2017.

Shuzvon Ramdass of the public defender's department represented Sewak while Criston J Williams and Aaron Lewis represented Shastri, who was in university when she was charged.