Dianand Lakhan, 41, of Yarrowkabra, Soesdyke/Linden Highway, and his friend, 36-year-old Aubrey Williams, also of Yarrowkabra were jointly charged on Tuesday with the brutal murder of Lakhan’s wife, Edith Reuben.
The two men, who are both labourers, appeared at the Diamond/Grove Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday before Magistrate Judy Latchman; they were not required to enter a plea and were remanded to prison until March 3, 2022.
Reuben, 48, a housewife was found hanging from a mango tree on February 9 in her yard at Yarrowkabra. Police had suspected foul play and a post mortem examination later confirmed that she died as a result of asphyxiation due to hanging compounded by blunt trauma to the head.
Lakhan and Williams were subsequently arrested and reportedly confessed to murdering the woman. Police Headquarters reported that Lakhan discovered Williams and his wife in a comprising position after which they both joined and reportedly hit her in the head multiple times.
After she became unconscious, the men placed her to hang from the tree to make it look like a suicide.
The men then concocted a story and told police that they were consuming alcohol with other friends earlier in the day and they later left Reuben alone on the veranda drinking.
The husband told police that about 04:00hrs, Williams who spent the night at their house, woke him up and told him he was leaving. The husband said he went back to sleep and woke up two hours later and found his wife hanging from the tree.
Investigators believe the woman was killed sometime between 00:30hrs and 06:00hrs the day before she was discovered.