Trinidad: Man charged with killing his high school sweetheart sent to St. Anns

Vishal Birju who is charged with the murder of his former companion Gabriella Dubarry. Photo: Dexter Philip
Vishal Birju who is charged with the murder of his former companion Gabriella Dubarry. Photo: Dexter Philip

Vishal Birju, the man charged for the murder  of Gabriella Dubarry, shook his body as he appeared before the court.

He was sent to St Ann’s.

Birju, 30 of Fyzabad, appeared this morning  before Magistrate Ava Vandenberg-Bailey at the Siparia Magistrates’ Court.

 
She read the  charge to the ‘ph’ taxi driver that on January 9 at Jebodhsingh Drive in Fyzabad, he murdered Dubarry.

The indictable charge was laid by corporal Harrypersad of the Homicide Department.

During his time before the court, Birju’s body shook, promoting the magistrate to ask his lawyer whether there was a specific reason for these movements.

Defence attorney Nazima Ali Knox requested her client be sent for a psychological assessment, based on his behaviour.

She also asked that he be medically examined.

Knox added that Birju had been unable to give her proper instructions and that he required medication once a month. 

 
Police prosecutor Sgt Starr Jacob said that Birju had not shown any kind of medical incapabilities and was “quite coherent during  the enquiry.” She however said that he could be taken to St Ann’s. She said he would also be medically examined at the institution.

Vandenberg-Bailey sent Birju for observation and report and he will return to court on January 28.

Dubarry, the mother of a seven-year old boy, was killed hours before her 29th birthday.

She was getting dressed for work when a man with a firearm entered her parents’ house and shot her in the head.

Police said they were told that Dubarry had an ‘on and off’ relationship with the man since they were teenagers in secondary school.