Son relives trauma as gripping West Coast Berbice murder trial begins

The three men on trial

More than four years after the gruesome killing of taxi driver Mohamed Haniff, called “Raymond,” the long-anticipated trial of the three men accused of his murder has commenced at the Berbice High Court.

The case, which has gripped Experiment, Bath Settlement, on the West Coast of Berbice, unfolded on Wednesday, November 5, 2025, before a 12-member jury who listened to the evidence presented against the trio: Royston Dowden, called “Sakie” and “Killa”; Devon McAlmont; and Ivan Lindu.

The men are accused of fatally attacking the 47-year-old during what police described as a violent home invasion and robbery in September 2020.

Proceedings began this week before Justice Sandil Kissoon at the Berbice Assizes, marking the formal start of a trial that will determine whether the accused are guilty of the capital offence.

The State’s case, led by Prosecutor Cicela Corbin, includes 22 witnesses — 13 of whom are police officers connected to the original investigation.

Each of the defendants is represented separately: Attorney-at-Law Kevin Morgan for Dowden, Attorney-at-Law Chandra Sohan for McAlmont, and Attorney-at-Law Horatio Edmonson for Lindu.

As the trial entered its evidentiary phase on Wednesday last, eight witnesses, including relatives of the deceased and a police officer, were called to testify and faced cross-examination.

Prosecutor Corbin urged jurors to remember that “a life was snuffed out under hostile and heartless conditions,” noting that Haniff had only recently returned to Guyana from abroad, eager to reunite with his family, unaware that “in a matter of days he would be removed from their lives.”

The prosecution’s case contends that on September 11, 2020, three men forced their way into Haniff’s home and “executed a series of gruesome acts there,” resulting in his death.

“Members of the jury, as these three men appear before you, they have nothing to prove. It is the State who has brought its case against them, and it is the State who must satisfy you, so that you feel sure that each of them committed the offence of murder,” Corbin told the court.

Among those testifying was Asraf Haniff, 21, son of the deceased and a key witness for the prosecution. He told the court that at the time of the killing, he lived with his parents at their two-storey home in Experiment, went out on the day in question but returned home later that evening and his calls to his parents went unanswered.

He said that upon going upstairs, he “heard a groaning,” and on entering his father’s room, discovered him “in a pool of blood.”
“I started hollering for help, calling the neighbours, and then my uncle come…. my uncle jump the fence, then my brother-in-law come, then we hoisted my father and carry him to Fort Wellington Hospital,” he recalled tearfully.

The witness told the court that his mother was found “on the hall at the front, lying down on the floor.”

She was crying and told him that bandits had invaded the home. Under questioning, he confirmed that his mother later told police two armed men had entered her room and ordered her to lie flat on the floor.

Asraf said that after taking his father to the hospital, he and his mother went to the Fort Wellington Police Station, where they were asked to check for missing valuables.

“I raise up the mattress and find a black purse with my father money,” he testified, explaining that the purse, which contained cash and jewellery, was later seized by police as evidence.

He also told the court that he and his mother were detained by police, and he spent 72 hours in custody during the initial stages of the investigation.

During cross-examination, he confirmed that his father, a former customs officer turned taxi driver, had been planning to transfer ownership of the family home to him. Haniff, he said, owned three properties — one rented at Plantation Hope — and his wife managed finances from both the rental and the taxi business.

Police had reported that Haniff’s murder occurred on the night of Friday, September 11, 2020, at his Experiment home. The taxi driver, who had recently returned from St. Martin, was reportedly attacked by masked men armed with knives, cutlasses, and a metal bar.
Investigators stated that the men demanded money, and when Haniff resisted, they beat and chopped him, leaving him dead at the scene. His wife, who was present, reportedly witnessed the attack.

Four men were initially charged and brought before Magistrate Robindranauth Singh at the Fort Wellington Magistrate’s Court.

However, 56-year-old cash crop farmer Sarju Matadin was later freed after the magistrate found insufficient evidence against him. The remaining three — Dowden, McAlmont, and Lindu — were committed to stand trial in the High Court.

Police also said that one of the accused later confessed, providing details of how the men plotted to rob Haniff and what transpired when he resisted.

The trial continues Wednesday, November 12, 2025, at the Berbice High Court, where the prosecution is expected to call additional witnesses, including police investigators.