Man to be retried for murder of gas station operator
ROHAN Masters is to be retried on May 15 for the murder of gas station owner Sylvia Edwards.
The trial date was set when Masters appeared in the Home Circuit Court this week, and comes eight years after the Court of Appeal made the order.
The trial had, however, been stalled for various reasons over the years, including Masters’ changing of attorneys.
Masters, a reputed member of the Joel Andem Gang, was in 2003 convicted for Edwards’ murder which occurred a little over 12 years ago. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, but the appellate court in 2005 quashed his conviction and ordered a retrial.
Masters’ case will be what is called a paper trial — which is the reading of witness statements into evidence — as all the witnesses in the matter have been killed.
Edwards was kidnapped and killed in July 2000 by members of the Joel Andem Gang. She was murdered after a $200,000 ransom was not met. Her body was found in a shallow grave in Constitution Hill, St Andrew.
In 2008, reputed gang leader Joel Andem, who was also charged in Edwards’ murder, was freed when the prosecution dropped the charge against him for lack of evidence.
Andem is, however, spending time behind bars on another offence.
