Mark Royden Williams known as ‘Smallie’ who is currently serving death sentences for the killing of 12 persons at Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) in 2008, was on Thursday, handed another death sentence for the murder of Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Corporal Ivor Williams.
32-year-old Williams was indicted in July for the January 23, 2008 murder of the soldier which occurred at Buxton, East Coast Demerara (ECD).
At his sentencing hearing on Thursday, presiding Judge Sandil Kissoon sentenced Mark Williams to death by hanging for the “shocking, brutal, horrific, violent and premeditated” murder.
According to the Judge, Mark Williams and his accomplices designed and calculated a trap to ambush and “murder in mass” members of the Disciplined Forces who were acting in the lawful execution of their duties to preserve, and maintain calm in Buxton and neighbouring villages.
The convicted killer was represented by Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes, while State Counsel Muntaz Ali and State Counsel Taneisha Sagon appeared on behalf of the prosecution.
According to reports, on the day in question, several armed men who were part of the notorious Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins gang ambushed a GDF vehicle returning to Camp Ayanganna in Georgetown from an administrative duty in Berbice.
The gunmen engaged the soldiers in a shoot-out during which Corporal Williams was fatally shot and relieved of his service firearm.
In 2017, Mark Williams and Dennis “Anaconda” Williams were sentenced to death by hanging for their involvement in the 2008 Bartica Massacre, which left 12 persons, including three Policemen, dead.
They were found guilty of the killings by a jury.
The men have since filed an appeal against their conviction and sentence.
The attack was carried out on February 17, 2008, in the community of Bartica.
Police Lance Corporal Zaheer Zakir and Constables Shane Fredericks and Ron Osborne were fatally shot. Edwin Gilkes, Dexter Adrian, Irving Ferreira, Deonarine Singh, Ronald Gomes, Ashraf Khan, Abdool Yasseen, Errol Thomas, and Baldeo Singh were the civilians killed.
