Fisherman must serve at least 30 years for murdering US-based Guyanese

34-year-old Mario Bissoondial of Cumberland Village, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), the fisherman who plead guilty to murdering US-based Guyanese Hemraj Pardesi, must serve at least 30 years of his life sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

Following his arraignment at the Berbice High Court last month, Bissoondial pleaded guilty to a charge for the capital offence of murder in connection with the August 2021 death of Pardesi, 67. Judge Jo Ann Barlow sentenced him to life with the possibility of parole Tuesday.

Dead: Hemraj Pardesi

To give Bissoondial credit for his early guilty plea, the Judge directed the Prison Service to take six years off of the thirty-year period. In addition, 928 days must be subtracted from that period to account for the convict’s pre-trial confinement.

To support his rehabilitation, the Judge further ordered that the Guyana Prison Service expose him to programmes designed specifically for persons convicted of violent crimes and skill development.  Bissoondial was represented by defence attorney Kevin Morgan.

State Counsel Muntaz Ali prosecuted the matter.

Police had detained Bissoondial following the crime.

According to reports, he had told detectives that he and another man had been hired to rob Pardesi by a woman, with whom he (Pardesi) had a close relationship with.

However, he stated that Pardesi was attacked by his accomplice with an iron bar during the robbery at the now-dead man’s Lot 9 Reliance Settlement, East Canje, Berbice home, which resulted in a struggle in which Pardesi was strangled.

Per reports, the two entered Pardesi’s house with his key and stole a bag that contained $800,000. Pardesi reportedly took the money out of the bank to remodel his home.

His cause of death was listed as ligature strangulation and blunt trauma to the head.

In August 2021, Bissoondial and 28-year-old Malisha Dutchin of Reliance, East Canje, Berbice, were charged with Pardesi’s murder. They were placed on remand in prison.

The Police had also issued a wanted bulletin for 34-year-old Jason Isaacs of Lot 18 Bristol Street, East Canje, Berbice, the same month in relation to Pardesi’s murder.

Isaacs was arrested in Suriname last October but the following month, he managed to escape from the Paramaribo hospital where he had been receiving treatment for a gunshot injury.

Isaacs is also wanted in Suriname for murder. 

If he was ever rearrested is unknown.