Geoffrey Ward, 62, will spend the rest of his natural life in jail after he was found guilty yesterday of murdering his wife and sentenced to 71 years.
Justice Navindra Singh handed down the sentence at the High Court, where Ward was on trial for the murder of Donette Ward, who was fatally stabbed on April 24, 2010 at Herstelling, East Bank Demerara.
When asked by Justice Singh if he had anything to say before the sentence was imposed, Ward said that he would like to address the court for 10 minutes so that he could read several scriptures from the bible. He proceeded to read several scriptures from Chapter 13 of the Gospel of Luke. Ward also said that he is assured of a place in the Kingdom of heaven with his father. He then turned to the jury while raising his hand and said that he had no hard feelings towards them. He also turned to the prosecutor and judge and said the same to them.
While his lawyer, Hukumchand, was telling the trial judge that the matter was subject to appeal, Ward indicated that he wanted to say something, and told the judge twice that he would not like to appeal the verdict.
Hukumchand then indicated to Justice Singh that he would like a psychiatric evaluation to be done on his client before sentencing and the judge responded that he will make a record but would not permit it to affect the sentencing.
In handing down the sentence, Justice Singh told the accused that he would normally start at 60 years for murder matters, and that he normally makes deductions based on mitigating factors.
The trial judge then told Ward that even though he had educated him on the bible, he had found no mitigating factors. He added five years for the brutality of the crime and six years for the fact that it is a domestic violence case, which is very prevalent in our society today. Ward then said, “Thank you very much.”
The deceased woman’s niece, Stacy De Cambra, started weeping uncontrollably and said that her aunt was finally able to rest. Her mother said that she was grateful that they have gotten justice as so many persons have lost their loved ones and they haven’t received any.
On Thursday, Ward led his defence in an unsworn statement, where he said that he was innocent of the crime. According to reports, on the day of the murder, Donette Ward had arrived in the country and was residing at her mother’s home at Herstelling. Her husband allegedly went there and an argument ensued between them, during which he allegedly stabbed her several times about the body with a knife. The wounded woman was later taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre where she was pronounced dead on arrival. The man also allegedly attacked his niece, De Cambra, who managed to escape unhurt.
Several witnesses were called to testify, including State Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh, who had conducted the post-mortem examination and the woman’s niece who saw the accused stabbing her aunt.
