Siblings charged with murdering Mining Surveyor, walk free 

Georgetown, Guyana: Rondell Layne and Mario Moses, the two brothers accused of killing Ricky Oswald Ambrose, a 40-year-old mining surveyor, left the courthouse as free men on Wednesday after the murder charge against them was dropped.

Notably, the victim is identified as a ranger from South Ruimveldt of Georgetown.

Magistrate Christel Lambert declared that there was not enough evidence presented to prove the charge against the brothers after the prosecution’s case in the Preliminary Inquiry (PI) concluded.

According to the Magistrate’s decision, the siblings’ alleged injunction statements were not submitted voluntarily and freely to the Police. As a consequence, the caution statements were inadmissible in the opinion of her conclusion.

Further, the prosecution had no other evidence to establish its case beyond reasonable doubt in the absence of this particular evidence. As a result, the Magistrate dismissed the joint murder charge against Layne and Moses.

Moreover, they ordered their immediate release from the prison.

Lawyer Euborn Allicock, who represented the brothers, insisted during the preliminary investigation that police detectives had made threats against the lives of his clients and their families, so they were forced to sign a pre-written warning statement.

Allicock further gave a statement, “The boys basically stated that they were threatened, that the livelihood of their families was threatened, and as a result, a caution statement was written (by the Police ranks for them). They were told if they didn’t sign it, the outcome would be the death of a few family members. The Magistrate further went on to mention that everything that came as a result of that caution statement was ‘fruit of the poisonous tree’ and as such, she could not accept it.”

Noting this, the phrase “fruit of the poisonous tree” refers to the evidence that has been collected unlawfully in legal contexts.

Additionally, neither a murder weapon nor any eyewitness accounts were presented during the hearing of the case.

Additional details of the case

The siblings from Good Intent, West Bank Demerara (WBD), were initially charged with the murder of Ambrose, which occurred on Sunday, December 18, 2022, on ‘Guana’ Sand Trail near Cuyuni River.

Notably, as per the Police, the now-dead man was a licensed holder of a .32 Pistol.

At the time of his death, he was employed as a ranger with Alphonso Mining in the Cuyuni River. The ATV and the body were roughly 20 feet apart.

Further, the mining surveyor was later recognised as the deceased, and an amount of cash and raw gold was missing along with his registered handgun.