Tortuga man on trial for murdering wife- Children give evidence against father

A 40-year-old man accused of murdering his ex-wife in front of their two young children in 2006 has gone on trial in the Port-of-Spain High Court. Raffique Mohammed, of Mayo Road, Tortuga, is before Justice Geoffrey Henderson and a 12-member jury in the Third Criminal Court. Mohammed is accused of stabbing his ex-wife Marian Paul-Mohammed to death on June 19, 2006, at her School Street, Edinburgh Village, Chaguanas, home. 

The couple’s children, who were eight and nine at the time of their mother’s murder, testified against their father. Their son, Shazard, told jurors that on the night of the incident, he heard his parents arguing. “My mummy was going to the kitchen and when she was reaching for the door, that was when Daddy gave her a stab in her throat with a knife,” he said. 

Shazard, now a teenager, said after the initial stab, his father repeatedly stabbed his mother until she stopped moving. Mohammed then spoke to his children and ran away. A post-mortem showed she died of multiple stab wounds to the neck. Her throat was also severed. Mohammed was arrested by police shortly after and later provided a confession statement which was admitted as evidence in the trial. 

Mohammed claimed he and his ex-wife were having problems in their marriage and he was trying to rekindle their relationship. He accused his ex-wife of being a drug addict and of abandoning their children when they were younger, and also claimed she was unfaithful. Blood tests done after her death showed Paul-Mohammed was a habitual marijuana user. 

The jury was told that months before the incident, Paul-Mohammed had sought a protection order against her ex-husband. Mohammed is being represented by Mario Merritt and Ayana Humphrey, while Angelica Teelucksingh prosecuted for the State. The trial continues on Monday.