DPP upgrades charge to murder for hotel owner who shot neighbour dead

Hotel owner, Erwin Bacchus, was at the Georgetown Magistrates' Court this morning where he found out that the murder charge was now being instituted against him after the withdrawal of the manslaughter charge. 

DPP upgrades charge to murder for hotel owner who shot neighbour dead

The hotel owner who was charged back in August for manslaughter in connection with the shooting death of his neighbour has now been remanded to jail, following a decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions to upgrade that charge to murder.

Hotel owner, Erwin Bacchus, was at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court this morning where he found out that the murder charge was now being instituted against him after the withdrawal of the manslaughter charge.

The man appeared confused by the decision.

He is accused of shooting his neighbour Jason DeFlorimonte dead in the compound of his hotel.  The man was reportedly chasing after a handyman of the hotel at the time during an argument.

Bacchus had claimed that he acted in self-defence. After he was initially charged for manslaughter, he was granted bail in the sum of $1.5 million. That bail has now been revoked as murder charges do not allow for bail to be granted.

The Courtroom was packed this morning as the decision was announced and the hotel owner was handcuffed and placed in the lock-ups.

Family members of the dead young man appeared pleased by the decision. Since the incident, they had maintained that DeFlorimonte was no threat to accused at the time of the incident. They had also told reporters that the 30-year-old man had repeatedly been threatened by the hotel owner.

A post-mortem report found that the young man was shot a number of times to the back. He was reportedly involved in a confrontation with his girlfriend, when the hotel’s handyman became involved.

The two got into an argument and DeFlorimonte chased the handyman into the hotel’s compound. It was there that he was shot multiple times and collapsed as he tried to run back home.

The accused will make his next Court appearance in a few weeks.

 

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