Two brothers yesterday pleaded guilty to the 2001 murder of Daniel Lester Aberdeen.
Ancil and Leo Poulette, of Egypt Village, Point Fortin, were convicted and sentenced to hang in 2007 for Aberdeen’s murder, but the Court of Appeal quashed the sentence and ordered a retrial.
Last week a jury was empanelled to hear the murder trial in the San Fernando First Assizes, but yesterday the brothers opted to plead guilty.
State attorney Shabana Shah said the State accepted their plea based on the murder felony rule that applies when someone is killed during the commission of an arrestable offence involving violence.
In this case, she said, the arrestable offences were kidnapping and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The state’s case is that on June 5, 2001, Leo Poulette was with another person (referred to as M) when he hired PH driver Clevon Brown. They picked up Ancil at his Point Fortin home and then stopped by a track leading to Aberdeen’s home.
The brothers sent M to call Aberdeen from his home at New Village, Point Fortin, while they walked up the road.
Aberdeen entered the back seat while M sat in the front seat.
The car drove for a short distance and was then flagged down by the brothers.
The brothers entered and sat on either side of Aberdeen.
They bound Aberdeen’s hands and ordered the driver to head to Chatham in an area with pipelines and bamboo. The brothers took Aberdeen into the bushes.
Brown told his brother what had happened and his brother made an anonymous report to the police. Following investigations by Insp Donald Denoon, Aberdeen’s decomposing body was found three days later. The brothers gave statements to the police.
An autopsy revealed Aberdeen died from multiple sharp traumatic injuries, including a slash to the neck and multiple stab wounds.
Before discharging the jury, the judge directed them to find the brothers guilty on the basis of the murder felony rule. The judge ordered a bio-social report from the prison. The brothers were represented by attorney Daniel Khan.
The attorneys are to file written submissions which will be heard on April 26.