A 29-year-old former member of the Guyana Defence Force on Wednesday denied that he beheaded his uncle on August 6, 2017, at 125 Better Hope South, East Coast Demerara.
Dwayne Tappin appeared before Justice Sandil Kissoon at the Demerara High Court and pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, which alleged that he killed 51-year-old Randolph Seenauth during an argument.
A 12-member jury was empanelled and the matter will go to trial. The State is represented by Prosecutors Mandel Moore and Abigail Gibbs.
According to reports, Seenauth and Tappin lived in separate apartments on the same plot of land, however, the family has a dispute over the land which the victim’s mother had occupied before she died.
On August 6, 2017 around 04:30hrs, neighbours heard a loud commotion in one of the apartments, but then there was silence for a few minutes which led them to suspect something was amiss.
Neighbours called out for Seenauth but got no response and later contacted the Sparendaam Police Station. Police ranks arrived shortly after and upon pushing the front door to Seenauth’s apartment, found his head lying in a passageway between the living room and kitchen.
Further checks were made in the apartment and the rest of the man’s body was discovered on a mattress in the bedroom.
The murder weapon was not recovered despite.
Tappin, hours after the murder, turned himself over to ranks at the Sparendaam Police Station.
