Although Curt Thomas, the man accused of killing well-known Parika, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) fuel dealer Seeram Singh professed his innocence throughout his first court appearance yesterday he was slapped with a murder charge and remanded to prison.
The 48-year-old-man called ‘Deportee,’ also of the Parika village, is being accused of murdering Singh, who was 52 at time of his death, on April 30th.
Thomas was not required to enter a plea to the murder charge and is scheduled to make his next court appearance on June 20th.
During his arraignment at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court, Thomas requested Magistrate Rochelle Liverpool to speak when the prosecution asked for some time to prepare the report, and Thomas was granted such.
The murder accused stated that law enforcement officials had arrested him since Sunday, last, and had enough time to have prepared the report for the court hearing. He also declared that he was innocent of the charge(s) being leveled against him.
In light of this, the Magistrate explained to Thomas that there is due process in such a court matter which includes a preliminary inquiry. He was told that it is during this time that the case would either be dismissed or he would be committed to stand trial.
The accused maintained that he has never owned a firearm or fired a gun and that this is the second occasion that he is being blamed for someone’s murder.
Singh was said to have been killed around 21:40h on that fateful night. He was close to his home when a lone gunman shot him and took off with three of his gold chains but left other valuables on the bleeding man.
The now dead man had sustained a stab to his abdomen along with gunshot injuries to his right ear and lower back. He was taken to the Leonora Cottage Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Meanwhile, the police had initially said Thomas was positively identified during an identification parade as the shooter involved in Singh’s.
