‘Cookie’ Pleads Guilty to Brutal Murder of Guyana Goldfields Manager
October 21 2025
Twenty-six-year-old taxi driver Anthony Ragnauth, known as “Cookie,” has pleaded guilty to the 2018 murder of Canadian national Neil Whyte, who was a Supply Chain Manager at Guyana Goldfields Inc.
Ragnauth entered his plea before Chief Justice (ag) Navindra Singh at the High Court in Demerara.
Ragnauth, of Lot 72 Middle Road, East La Penitence, Georgetown, was represented by attorney-at-law Latchmie Rahamat.
The prosecution’s case was presented by State Counsel Christopher Belfield, assisted by State Counsel Simran Gajraj and State Counsel Geneva Wills.
Sentencing has been set for November 19.
The facts presented in court revealed that Ragnauth met Whyte, 42, of Adelaide Street West, Toronto, Canada, about five months before the killing while working as a taxi driver.
The two maintained communication via text and socialised occasionally at bars and other venues.
On the night of May 21, 2018, Whyte invited Ragnauth to his Thomas Street, North Cummingsburg, Georgetown apartment, where they consumed alcohol.
Surveillance footage captured them entering the building around 10:00 p.m. and showed Ragnauth leaving less than two hours later carrying a black haversack.
Moments later, a security guard discovered Whyte’s naked body lying in a pool of blood. Police investigations revealed that he had sustained 17 stab wounds to his neck, shoulders, arms, and hands.
A post-mortem examination found that several wounds severed the jugular vein and penetrated the trachea and larynx, causing death by shock and hemorrhage.
Ragnauth was arrested two days later while driving a black car. After initially denying involvement, he confessed when confronted with the video evidence, reportedly saying, “Officer, I will tell you everything, and I did not mean to kill him.”
In his caution statement, Ragnauth claimed that Whyte had expressed affection toward him and consented to being restrained with plastic ties.
He then retrieved a knife from the kitchen and stabbed Whyte multiple times before stealing cash, credit cards, and phones.
Ragnauth later discarded some of the stolen items at the seawall.
His guilty plea now brings the seven-year-old case close to a conclusion as the court prepares to determine his sentence.
