Point Fortin man acquitted of murder

A Point Fortin man who had been on trial for the 2022 murder of Ikem Best has been found not guilty by a Port of Spain jury. He was acquitted on October 9.

Kareem Guadeloupe, 45, was before Justice Gillian Scotland charged on April 15, 2023, for the murder of Ikem Best, who was shot dead on October 7, 2022, along Circular Drive, Francis Lane, Warden Road, Point Fortin.

Best was standing along the roadway when occupants of a grey B15 car drove by and opened fire, killing him. This was his second trial.

His first trial, which began in May 2025 before Justice Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds, was aborted after prejudicial evidence emerged during the proceedings. Justice Ramsumair-Hinds discharged the 12-member jury and three alternates, ruling that the evidence could not be cured by judicial directions.

Guadeloupe consistently maintained his innocence in the fatal shooting of Best. The trial began on September 22.

He was represented by attorneys Michelle Ali and Analisa Ramsaran of the Public Defenders Department, while State prosecutors Kezia Gray-Birkette and Tammy Cato appeared on behalf of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

In 2019, Guadeloupe was also acquitted by a jury of the 2005 murders of brothers Neil and Nigel Seebran.

The brothers were last seen at their home at Sifoo Trace, Granville, Cedros, on the morning of November 17, 2005. Then, on January 12, 2006, their bodies were found huddled in a grave about 100 feet to the back of their home. An autopsy revealed they died from chop wounds.