Teen killers re-sentenced
Two men who escaped the death penalty 20 years ago because they were under-age when they literally slaughtered two women like animals, were re-sentenced yesterday to a minimum of 30 years by Justice Alice Yorke Soo-Hon. After converting the 20 calendar years to prison years (eight months), their minimum term will expire on July 1, 2006. Soo-Hon also ordered that the men are entitled to a review of their sentences every three years. Roodal Panchoo, now 35, and Ian Seepersad, now 37, will have a review hearing of their sentences on Monday before Justice Soo-Hon, as they never had one since their incarceration at the President’s Pleasure. The men’s case came back before the court following the Privy Council ruling that they ought to have been sentenced at the Court’s Pleasure instead of the President’s Pleasure, in keeping with the doctrine of separation of powers. They filed a constitutional motion through their attorneys Ian Ramdeen and Mark Seepersad, and on August 4, 2005, they had their sentences changed to the Court’s Pleasure. On July 1, 1986, the men were convicted and sentenced for the murder of Sumintra Seepersad at her Piparo home on March 7, 1981. At the time, Panchoo was 15 and Seepersad 17. The two had gone to the home that day, killed Seepersad’s 90-year-old mother, and waited in ambush for Seepersad’s return from the market where she made her living as a vendor. On her return, Panchoo strangled her with a piece of cloth and Ian Seepersad hit her on the head with a bilnah (rolling pin). Panchoo then slit her throat with a knife. They then robbed her of $94 and a pair of gold bracelets. Soo-Hon said that her sentence was not only for the offenders, but also served as a signal to other potential offenders that this type of gruesome crime will be met with the full force of the law. She said it was clear that Seepersad’s murder was premeditated — "she was literally slaughtered like an animal and left to die."
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"Teen killers re-sentenced"