Three accused in murders of elderly EBE couple walk free

Stating that the prosecution had failed to establish their connection to the murders of Mohamed Munir and his wife, Jamilla Munir; Justice Jo Ann Barlow this morning discharged the three men who were on trial before her for the crimes at the Demerara High Court.

  DEAD: Mohamed Munir

The trial of Joel Blair, Shamudeen Mohamed, also known as “Milo,” and Jason Howard, called “Smelly” had commenced earlier this month with a voir dire.

At the conclusion of that vior dire, the Judge ruled against admitting caution statements supposedly given by the three men to detectives.

With the exclusion of these statements, the prosecution had no further evidence; and as such, was unable to establish a prima facie case.

In light of this, the trial Judge directed the jury to return formal verdicts of not guilty in favour of each of the accused and consequently discharged them.

DEAD: Jamilla Munir

Blair, Shamudeen Mohamed, also known as “Milo,” and Howard, also known as “Smelly,” were accused of killing the elderly couple on April 17, 2016, at Good Hope, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), during the course of an arson in relation to a dwelling house.

After the joint murder accusation was read to them, the men had entered not-guilty pleas at their arraignment.  A group of attorneys led by Nigel Hughes was representing them.

Once well-known rice farmers Mohamed Munir, 75, and his wife Jamilla Munir, 70, were locked in their bedroom when some men tried to break into their highly grilled house.

The house was later set on fire by the invaders.

The couple’s charred remains were discovered after the blaze was put out.

Meanwhile, in 2019, Howard was acquitted of an attempted murder charge by a jury.

That charge had stemmed from the October 20, 2016 shooting of a male security guard when gunmen robbed an electronic store located in Fogarty’s Building on Water Street, Georgetown. 

Then in April 2019, he was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for robbing a fruit vendor at gunpoint. He was also arraigned on other armed robbery charges.