Relatives of Bartica Massacre victims recount identifying bodies

Relatives of three of the 12 persons killed in the 2008 Bartica Massacre yesterday recounted identifying their bodies to the pathologist for autopsies to be conducted on the remains.

Three men are on trial before Justice Roxane George and a 12-member jury for the murders of the 12 on February 17, 2008 at Bartica.

The charge against Mark Royden Williams, Dennis Williams, called ‘Anaconda’, and Roger Simon is that they murdered Lance Corporal Zaheer Zakir and Constables Shane Fredericks and Ron Osborne, Edwin Gilkes, Dexter Adrian, Irving Ferreira, Deonarine Singh, Ronald Gomes, Ashraf Khan, Abdool Yasseen, Errol Thomas, and Baldeo Singh.

They have pleaded not guilty to the capital indictments.

Testifying yesterday were Zaphier Zakir and Fazil Ali, who recalled witnessing Dr. Nehaul Singh perform post-mortem examinations two days after the killings, on the bodies of their son and nephew, respectively.

Dennis Williams
Dennis Williams
Mark Royden Williams
Mark Royden Williams

Zakir is the father of slain Police Lance Corporal Zaheer Zakir, while Ali is the uncle of Abdool Yasseen.

Meanwhile, Ingrid Ferreira-Trotman recounted Dr. Singh performing an autopsy on the body of her uncle, Irving Ferreira, on February 20, 2008.

The court heard that the autopsies were all done at the Georgetown Public Hospital, after which the respective bodies were handed over to families for burial.

The main trial resumed yesterday afternoon after a week-long voir dire ended on Wednesday.

The case continues on Monday morning at 9 at the High Court in Georgetown.

The State’s case is that on the night in question, the three accused, in the company of others, launched a murderous attack on the community and the police station at Bartica, with wanton disregard for human life, which left three police officers dead.

The State is represented by Prosecutor Diana Kaulesar, in association with Prosecutor Stacy Goodings. Meanwhile, defence attorneys Peter Hugh, Saphier Hussain, and Roger Yearwood are representing Simon, Dennis Williams and Mark Williams, respectively.