Andrea suspect charged with murder and woman also going to court Local news

Roger Gaspard, director of public prosecutions (DPP), has ordered police to charge one man with the murder of court official Andrea Bharatt.

Investigators told Express that they plan to file the complaint overnight, with the aim of bringing the 24-year-old man from Malabar to court today.

The man was allegedly in the vehicle when Joel Balcon kidnapped Bharatt on January 29 in Arima.

The order was given by the DPP yesterday afternoon.

Investigators said Gaspard also ordered that the man’s wife – a 37-year-old – be charged with the offense of receiving stolen items.

Balcon dies of blunt trauma

Balcon died Monday afternoon at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope.

In his autopsy performed at the Forensic Science Center in Federation Park yesterday, he was found dead from blunt force trauma.

His injuries include brain fractures, multiple broken ribs, bleeding from his internal organs, burns to his back (possibly from a Taser), contusion to the right eye, bleeding in the brain and damage to the legs and shoulders.

The autopsy was performed by pathologist Dr. Eastlyn McDonald Burris.

Balcon, or Devon Charles, was the second person killed in police custody.

Andrew Morris, 35, of Tumpuna Road, Arima, died on Feb. 1 at Arima Hospital, but police reported his death on Feb. 3.

According to police, he was taken to a hospital after sustaining injuries when he tried to escape.

A post-mortem conducted at the Forensic Science Center on Monday was unconvincing.

Relatives ordered a second private autopsy performed by pathologist Prof Hubert Daisley at the Simpsons Shalom Chapel in Couva on Tuesday.

According to this post-mortem, Morris died of blunt trauma, which caused his lungs to collapse.

Andrea’s funeral tomorrow

Bharatt’s funeral is expected to take place tomorrow.

Relatives told the Express that her body was being taken to the family’s home, where a small ceremony with close relatives was being held at 9 p.m.

From there, her body will be transported past Arima Magistrate’s Court as part of a march before being taken to Faith Assembly Church in Arouca where her funeral service will take place from 11am.

This service is expected to come alive.

Bharatt will be cremated at the Belgroves Funeral Home in Tacarigua.

The result of a post-mortem done on Bharatt’s body on Monday was unconvincing.

However, a second private autopsy performed the next day at Boodoo’s Funeral Home in Cunupia determined she was dead from blunt trauma to the head and bleeding.

National Security Minister Stuart Young told the Express on Tuesday that he had asked for a report from the Forensic Science Center.

‘I have confidence in the forensic pathologists at the Forensic Science Center. I am awaiting the outcome of this report, “said Young.

About the case

Bharatt, a graduate of the University of the West Indies, was a clerk at the Arima Magistrate’s Court. On the afternoon of January 29, she and a work colleague boarded a taxi in King Street, Arima. The taxi, a Nissan Versa, was carrying fake H-plates. Bharatt and her friend were in the back seat. There was a man in the front passenger seat. The friend was dropped off shortly thereafter in Cleaver Heights, Arima. Bharatt never came to her home on Arima Old Road, Arima, where she lived with her father, Randolph Bharatt. He called his daughter’s phone, but a man answered and said she was not available. The father pleaded to speak to her, but the man replied: ‘It’s about money. If you do not pay the ransom, I will cut off your daughter’s ears and send them to you. ” Her body was found on February 4 in an abyss in the Heights of Aripo. Operations in the area in the days that followed led to the discovery of two additional sets of skeletal remains.