Death sentence for river killing

CONVICTED murderer Ronald Tiwarie  yesterday received the death sentence when he was found guilty of the murder of his sister-in-law. After two hours of deliberation, the 12-member jury returned a guilty verdict and the sentence was read to him by Justice Rajendra Narine before a packed Port-of-Spain Third Criminal Court. When Narine revealed the manner of execution (death by hanging), Tiwarie’s mother, stepfather and another relative sobbed loudly in the courtroom and held on to each other for support.  Tiwarie, however, stood erect with a blank expression on his face.  He had nothing to offer the court when the judge had earlier asked if he had anything to say. Tiwarie is the third man to receive the death sentence since it was reinstated by the Privy Council on July 7, 2004.

The other two were Daniel Agard and Lester Pitman, who were each found guilty of the December 2001 murders of John Cropper, Maggie Lee and Lynette Lithgow-Pearson. They were sentenced to death on July 14, 2004. Tiwarie, of Blue Basin Road in Diego Martin, was charged with the murder of his sister-in-law Polly Ramnarine at the Blue Basin River on March 8, 2001. During the three-week long trial, the jury heard that Ramnarine and her daughter Meena left their home at Blue Basin Road and went to the nearby river for their usual morning bath. Meena left her mother in the water and was returning to the house when she heard her mother scream. The child ran back to the river and saw Tiwarie on top of her mother.  Ramnarine, who was wearing only her underwear, had blood on her hands. Meena ran to a nearby parlour and sought the help of a neighbour, Nia Adams.

They both returned to the river and found Ramnarine’s body in the river and she appeared to be dead.  Tiwarie was nowhere to be seen, but Adams had observed his  (Tiwarie’s) van parked in a nearby yard. Meena accompanied Adams to his house where he contacted the police. While they were waiting for the arrival of the officers, Tiwarie was seen driving away with his wife and daughter in the pick-up van. Shortly after, Meena’s step-father Dave Tiwarie arrived.  He was informed of the incident and went to the river and covered his wife’s body with a black shirt. A post-mortem report later revealed that Ramnarine had died as a result of drowning.

On March 9 2001, Tiwarie had walked into the Port-of-Spain CID office at about 5.30 pm and told one of the officers on duty he had heard one of his relatives had been murdered and the police were looking for him. He was subsequently charged with the murder by acting Insp Anthony Lezama. Narine yesterday pointed out to Lezama that the verdict was an indication that the jury obviously had not believed the allegations made against him (Lezama) during the trial. He thanked the jury for their service in a “case that involved the evidence of a child and a brutal murder.” State attorney payed tribute to Lezama for his support during the trial and commended Meena for the manner in which she gave evidence. Tiwarie was represented by attorney Odai Ramischand instructed by Thomas Cunningham.