Ryan Sugrim, the businessman who police say murdered his ex-wife Zaila Sugrim before setting her body on fire and later burying the remains, was moments ago charged with murder.
The 38-year-old was not required to plead to the indictable offence which stated that, between May 11 and May 14, 2019 at La Union, West Coast Demerara, he murdered Zaila Sugrim, his ex-wife. He appeared before Magistrate Zameena Ali in the Leonora Magistrate’s Court.
The man’s lawyer, Sanjeev Datadin, in addressing the court said that his client did not confess to the murder. He added that police are not forthcoming with information which caused them to make a report to the Police Complaints Authority.
The lawyer further stressed that what is being published in the media and what is being said by the police are two different versions. He asked the court to publicly warn the media to desist from publishing content that is untrue because it could cause his client to be subjected to an unfair trial. He stressed that he even had to write to the media houses because they are publishing unfounded information. He said too that he wrote the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) to ask for protection against media houses publishing untrue information.
The magistrate, after listening to both sides, adjourned the matter until June 25 at the Vreed-en-hoop Magistrate’s Court.
According to information, the suspect told investigators that he shot Zaila Sugrim, the mother of his five children, in her face because “she always upsets [him].”
He then allegedly took ranks to where the woman’s burnt remains were buried in a shallow grave, a stone’s throw from the gas station owned by his parents.
Further, police said that the suspect claimed that, after shooting the mother of five, he set her body on fire. However, a neighbour raised an alarm and threatened to call the police and fire service if Sugrim did not put out the blaze.
