John Hetsberger, 23, was today handed a prison term of 10 years after he appeared before Justice Navindra Singh at the High Court in Georgetown and admitted to killing Jennifer Mendonca, 57, formerly of Prince Williams Street, Plaisance, East Coast Demerara.
Hetsberger, formerly of Duke Street, Kingston Georgetown, was 18 at the time of the killing. He was initially indicted for murder, but opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter, thereby, admitting that on August 8, 2014, he unlawfully killed Mendonca.
Justice Singh ordered that the prison authorities deduct the time Hetsberger spent in pre-trial custody from the sentence. In his address to the court, the confessed killer said he was sorry for what he had done. He explained that he lost his cool and went into the woman’s house where he tied and strangled her.
According to Hetsberger, Mendonca was a “spiritualist” who had performed “some works” which resulted in the death of his father sometime back. Nevertheless, attorney-at-law Dexter Todd told the court that Hetsberger is a model prisoner who is preparing to write CSEC.
Attorneys-at-law Teriq Mohamed, Abigail Gibbs and Tuanna Hardy presented the case for the prosecution.
According to reports, the woman’s cause of death was given as asphyxia due to strangulation and blunt trauma to the head. Police had said that the woman was found dead in bed with her hands and feet bound. Her mouth was duct-taped and there was a pillow covering her face.
Reports indicate that Mendonca had presented a bouquet to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth when she visited here some four decades ago.
