Elderly man to face trial over miner’s murder

Donald Mopp, the elderly man accused of the fatal stabbing of miner Winsel Edwards at the Tucville Squatting Area, was yesterday committed to stand trial for murder in the High Court.

Magistrate Judy Latchman announced the decision at the conclusion of a preliminary inquiry into the charge against Mopp, noting that the court had found that a prima facie case had been made out against him. The allegation against Mopp, who is said to be in his 70s, is that on February 15, at Tucville Squatting Area, he murdered Edwards.

When Mopp was arraigned on February 18, Police Prosecutor Steven Telford had told the court that Mopp and Edwards were friends who had a misunderstanding. As a result, he said, Mopp left and subsequently returned to where Edwards was tending his bicycle and stabbed him with a knife. Edwards was taken to Georgetown Public Hospital, where he succumbed while receiving medical treatment. The preliminary inquiry was heard at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.