Resh­ma Ra­goonath

Harold Clarke, the man ac­cused of mur­der­ing his wife Wendy Ar­joon, was yes­ter­day com­mit­ted to stand tri­al for at­tempt­ing to mur­der a taxi dri­ver and rob­bing him of his car last year. Clarke, 45, ap­peared be­fore Siparia First Court Mag­is­trate Jo-Anne Con­nor charged with the 2011 of­fences as well as with his wife's mur­der. Clarke was on the run in the mat­ter of the at­tempt­ed mur­der and rob­bery with vi­o­lence charges. A war­rant was is­sued for his ar­rest when he missed his March 9 court date for the two mat­ters. He was sub­se­quent­ly charged with Ar­joon's mur­der. The moth­er of two was stabbed to death while at a cafe in Pe­nal last month. Yes­ter­day when Clarke reap­peared to an­swer the mur­der charge, Con­nor called on court pros­e­cu­tor Sgt Drid­genath Sookraj to con­tin­ue the pros­e­cu­tion's case on the two charges in­volv­ing Ram­dath Gajraj. Clarke was charged with the at­tempt­ed mur­der of Gadraj, 38, and rob­bing him of his Toy­ota Corol­la on May 9, 2011. Five wit­ness­es were called in that mat­ter. Clarke was com­mit­ted to stand tri­al in the High Court. He will reap­pear be­fore the Siparia court on Ju­ly 23 to an­swer Ar­joon's mur­der charge.