Massacres convict sentenced for Triumph killings, armed robbery

Michael Caesar
Michael Caesar

Michael Caesar, also known as ‘’Capone,’ 36, who is currently serving sentences for his role in the Lusignan and Bartica massacres, was yesterday sentenced to 13 years in jail after pleading guilty to two counts of manslaughter and armed robbery.

Caesar, who was charged with two counts of murder, entered a guilty plea to two counts of manslaughter instead.

Appearing before  Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall at the High Court via Zoom, he admitted to the killing  of Fazal Hakim, called ‘Boyee,’ 25, of Mon Repos and Rajesh Singh, called ‘Rabbit,’ 35,of of Martyr’s Ville on December 16th, 2007 at Lot  82 Agriculture Road, Triumph.

Fazal Hakim

He also admitted to two counts of armed robbery where it was alleged that at the same time and at the same location, while in the company of others and armed with weapons, he robbed Narendra Mukhram and his wife of a quantity of cash and jewellery.

Caesar was represented by attorney-at-law Maxwell McKay, who asked that his client’s sentence reflect the fact that he has been incarcerated since 2009, that he voluntarily gave his statement and that he did not waste the court’s time. 

State attorney Tuanna Hardy, however, argued that the killings were deliberate acts, which left the families of the victims traumatized and, therefore, the state was asking that the sentence reflect the

Rajesh Singh

nature and gravity of the acts.

Justice Morris-Ramlall made her decision after considering the nature of the acts, the fact that violence was involved and because the actions of the convict were senseless. Caesar was sentenced to 36 years imprisonment for the murders and 30 years for the robberies.

However, in the case of the killings, Justice Morris-Ramlall, however, deducted 12 years for Caesar’s guilty plea, and another 11 years on account of the time he spent on remand, leaving the sentence at 13 years.

For the armed robbery sentence, the judge deducted 10 years for his plea and an additional 11 for his time already spent in jail. As a result, he will serve nine years for the crime.

In December of 2016, Caesar was sentenced to spend 60 and 45 years in jail after pleading guilty to unlawfully killing a total of 20 persons in the Bartica and Lusignan massacres.  His new sentences are to run concurrently.