Ten years after killing his wife and burying her in an unfinished bathroom at their Melanie North, East Coast Demerara home, Gordon Leslie Durant has admitted to the crime and is now awaiting sentencing.
At his arraignment before the High Court in Demerara yesterday morning, the now 80-year-old man admitted that it was he who had killed his wife.
He was originally indicted for the murder. He, however, pleaded not guilty to the capital charge; but guilty to manslaughter; accepting that between June 26th and 28th, 2012, he unlawfully killed 50-year-old Joan Durant.
Since being committed to stand trial some years ago, it is not the first time that the octogenarian had indicated his intention to plead guilty to killing his wife.
After he would be arraigned, however, he would tell the Court that he did not kill his wife. When asked, he would also tell the Court that no one was influencing or forcing him to plead.
Without an unequivocal plea, however, Durant would be repeatedly told by the Court that his plea could not be accepted and that he should then await a trial, to which he is also entitled.
At his arraignment yesterday morning, however, the elderly man pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder when it was read to him, but guilty to that of manslaughter.
When asked, he told Justice Jo-Ann Barlow that he was aware of what he was doing, that it was he who had killed his wife and that he knew he would have to be sentenced for the crime.
He was adamant that no one had forced him to enter the plea he did. He also told the Judge when asked, that he had not otherwise been influenced in anyway.
Justice Barlow has deferred sentencing to September 15th, to first hear from a probation and other social impact reports.
Durant was represented by defence attorney Dexter Smartt, while the indictment was presented by state counsel Latifah Elliot.
The 50–year-old deceased was discovered buried in an unfinished bathroom at the couple’s home.
Her body was discovered by the police several days after she went missing.
Durant had initially told investigators that his wife had packed a bag and walked out of the house on the afternoon of Tuesday June 26th, 2012.
However, the woman’s relatives did not believe him and they subsequently lodged a missing person’s report and launched a search for her.
Police investigators revisited the family’s home two days later after relatives informed that a stench was coming from the house.
The woman’s body was subsequently discovered buried in sand in the unfinished structure.
