Four to stand trial for murder of school teacher

RELATIVES of two men and two women charged with the murder of a retired school teacher broke down in tears at the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Eighth Court yesterday afternoon when the four were committed to stand trial at the next sitting of the Assizes. Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls ruled that a prima facie case had been made out against Nadia Pooran, 20, of Farm Road, St Joseph, Shelly-Ann Anganoo, 18, of Tumpuna Road, Cumuto, Nicholas Ali, 22, also of Farm Road and Tesfa Jones, 20, of Coal Mine Road, Sangre Grande, for the March 25 murder of Ralphy Ramcharan. The body of the Citizen’s Alliance candidate for the 2002 general election was found floating in a river off Black Dirt Trace, Barataria, on March 26. The four, all unemployed, were jointly charged on April 18 by Cpl Francis Vidale of the Barataria Police Station. Vidale, the last of 25 State witnesses called, gave evidence on Wednesday.

Attorneys Richard Mason and Patrick Godson-Phillip both refuted the claim of “joint enterprise” made by State prosecutor Jennifer Martin. They argued that their clients Ali and Jones could not be held accountable for murder just because they were present at the scene. “My client had no power to stop Ramcharan from being murdered,” Mason added. Prior to the committal, all four chose to reserve their defence when the alibi notices were read to them by the magistrate. Mason and Godson-Phillip made requests that their clients be remanded at the Port-of-Spain prison because they (Ali and Jones) had complained that they were being threatened by incarcerated relatives of Ramcharan at the maximum security prison in Arouca. McNicolls informed them that the court had no jurisdiction over the matter and advised them to file a complaint with the Commissioner of Police. Anganoo was represented by attorney Dawn Mohan and Pooran, by Aden Stroude. Before the four were taken downstairs to the holding cell, Jones was allowed to embrace his mother. Ali’s mother, who had already exited the courtroom, was called in by a police officer to hug her son, but the emotional woman said she “could not handle that.” A few seconds later she changed her mind and clung to her son for as long as she was allowed to before he was taken away.