Former Captain of the Guyana Defence Force, Orwain Sandy has moved to the Appeal Court asking for a lesser sentence after he was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his reputed wife, Reona Payne in 2018.
On August 4, 2020, High Court Judge Sandil Kissoon sentenced the former GDF Captain to life in prison with the possibility of parole after serving a minimum of 20 years.
Initially indicted for murder, Sandy had opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter, admitting that on May 31, 2018, he unlawfully killed Payne, by shooting her 14 times with his service revolver.
On the day in question, Sandy and Payne, a mother of three, were in a motorcar proceeding along First Street, Alexander Village, Georgetown when an argument ensued after the then GDF Captain accused her of being unfaithful.
After the incident, Sandy turned himself in at the Ruimveldt Police Station.
He was subsequently charged for the offence, but was granted an application to be mentally evaluated after his attorney told the court that the examination was critical to his client’s well-being, since he had been consulting with a psychiatrist for two years prior to the fatal shooting.
Sandy and Payne had been living together for about five years at his Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD) home.
