Court of Appeal orders retrial for alleged wife killer

The Court of Appeal today ordered that the conviction and 83-year sentence against accused wife-killer Michael Anthony Persaud be set aside, thereby initiating the process of a new trial at the High Court in Georgetown.

In November 2014, the now 29-year-old Persaud was found guilty by a jury of murdering his wife Maduri Padumdeo, called ‘Sharda’, at their Lot 8 North Sophia, Greater Georgetown residence on December 23, 2011.

According to reports, the body of Padumdeo, then 19, was discovered naked in her apartment with a black and white wire wrapped around her neck. It was reported that a day prior to the gruesome discovery one of the woman’s neighbours saw Persaud dragging her into the apartment. A postmortem examination conducted on Padumdeo revealed that she died of ligature strangulation.

Justice Navindra Singh had imposed the custodial sentence following the jury’s unanimous guilty verdict. However, at the Court of Appeal, Persaud through his lawyer Glen Hanoman had argued that the conviction and sentence were unduly served and could not stand due to several material irregularities in the trial proceedings. The accused killer had also argued that the sentence was severe and that Justice Singh failed to explore the possibility of ordering a probation report and taking other relevant factors into account.

The murder accused had also argued that Justice Singh erred when he refused to grant Persaud a sufficient adjournment to retain a lawyer of his choice. The appeal was heard by Chancellor of the Judiciary Yonette Cummings-Edwards and two additional judges.