Justice Gail Gonzales -
A HIGH Court judge has sentenced two men for the 2010 murder of a Freeport man and the kidnapping of his common-law wife and baby during a robbery at their home.
Layne Williams will remain in jail for another seven years, nine months and 14 days. His accomplice Anton Gay will serve five years, nine months and 14 days for the murder of Neeshad Ali on August 15, 2010.
Williams and Gay were before Justice Gail Gonzales.
At their sentencing hearing on November 1, they also received concurrent sentences for kidnapping Ali’s common-law wife Lila Seetaram for ransom and robbery with aggravation.
The two had plea-deal discussions with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in September to plead guilty to murder felony, kidnapping for ransom and robbery with aggravation.
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According to the evidence in the case, Ali hired the two to paint his home.
They attacked him and slit his throat. As they moved upstairs, they met Seetaram, whom they gagged and blindfolded, demanding money from her.
When her 15-month-old began to cry, she was allowed to comfort her while searching for money in a safe for the men. She found $7,000, which she gave Williams, while Gay took jewellery. They also took electronics.
They told Seetaram she had to go with them and they would ask for a ransom for her.
They forced her into her car, which they packed with their loot. The baby was in the front passenger seat and the men were in the back.
She drove to a back street in Chase Village and Williams took over the driving. They stopped at a gas station, where she was told to call her mother-in-law and ask for a $100,000 ransom for her and her baby.
While she was doing so, Williams took the phone and her father-in-law, who was on the line, told him, “You go have to kill them, yes, because you eh getting no money.”
They drove to an area close to Rienzi Complex, Couva, where they offloaded the stolen items in the bush and Williams said, “I did like Neeshad, you know, and I woulda do anything for him, but he didn't lend me the money, and that is why it end up like this.”
The men then took Seetaram somewhere else to call her mother-in-law and it was then she was told Neeshad was dead.
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Seetaram also told police Williams was saying, “Imagine, Neeshad did tell me go to Kamla! She eh giving me that and I try one day, you know and the list was long, long, long and the surgery is only a month away. I have to get that money now now.
“I did ask Neeshad for his money borrow, you know! If I did get it from him this wouldna never happen to him."
Seetaram begged Williams not to kill her and her child, promising her in-laws would pay the ransom.
Williams then told her and Gay to travel to Gulf City Mall and said he would stay with the baby, threatening to kill her if he saw police or anything suspicious.
Seetaram and Gay travelled to the mall and made another call to her mother-in-law.
Williams then drove to where she and his accomplice were and took them to Pleasantville, then to a house “on the line.”
They then took a taxi because the police were in the area, where a woman, believed to be Williams’ wife, was picked up. The taxi dropped them off in San Fernando and they went to a fast food outlet for a meal.
They then took another taxi to Orange Field Road, Chase Village, to an old house with a woman and three children inside.
Seetaram then got confirmation from the 7 pm newscast that Ali was dead and she saw a photo of both of them on the news.
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Williams then told her to call back her mother-in-law and said he would release her after he got whatever he could.
She then heard loud voices from outside and Williams ran through the side of the house. The police held the men and Seetaram ran from the house with her daughter to a nearby church. Police took them to the Chaguanas Health Centre.
She gave several statements to the police and also identified the jewellery, electronics, cash and Ali’s van keys taken from her home on August 15, 2010.
Layne and Gay were represented by Michelle Ali, Michelle Gonzales and Shanutelle Hamilton of the Public Defenders’ Department.
Rebecca Trim-Wright and Tricia Samuel represented the Office of the DPP.
