BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – MIXED emotions were displayed after the man convicted of murdering his sister-in-law was handed a life sentence earlier this morning.
The final leg of William ‘Willy’ Benjamin’s sentencing hearing took place today (Feb. 26) at the Basseterre High Court of Justice, where trial and sentencing judge, Justice Francis Belle read his judgement.
Late last year, Benjamin was convicted of the murder of Michelle Weekes-Benjamin which took place on October 29, 2006. According to evidence in the case, he smothered her with a pillow and sought assistance in disposing of the body in the septic tank of a building on Rosemary Lane.
Justice Belle said he took all aggravating and mitigating factors into consideration, recounting pieces of the evidence presented in the case and the mitigating factors outlined by Benjamin’s lawyer, Reginald W. James.
Aggravating factors, as outlined by His Lordship, include: the hurt and pain inflicted upon both the deceased and her family as a result of the incident and the fact that Leroy Benjamin Jr. was deprived of his wife notwithstanding that the couple was estranged.
He said another aggravating factor was that the victim’s mother still has not been able to come to terms with her death. This factor, the judge noted, was expressed by the deceased’s friend, Diana Prentice.
Some of the mitigating factors which His Lordship outlined include: the convict was a teenager (18) when he committed the offence and that the convict expressed remorse following the commission of the offence.
His Lordship explained that in the case Spence and Hughes vs. the Queen, the Court of Appeal held that the automatic imposition of the death sentence upon persons convicted of murder was unconstitutional. He said as a result it was instituted that psychiatric and social inquiry reports be conducted and sentencing hearings be held which would provide mitigating factors on behalf of the convict.
Justice Belle said that since then the court had followed the Spence and Hughes doctrine and noted that the death penalty should only be imposed in instances where the circumstances are of a particularly gruesome nature.
He said the most suitable sentence in William Benjamin’s case is one that serves (1) as a deterrent to the convict and to other members of society and (2) to reflect the community’s disgust.
Benjamin was sentenced to serve the remainder of his life at Her Majesty’s Prison.
Following the sentencing, Lawyer James, in an exclusive interview with SKNVibes, said he feels the court’s judgement was logical.
“The judgement was a well reasoned and scholarly one having taken into consideration all the mitigating factors and the aggravating factors. Therefore, the imposition of life sentence was a just one. I am humbly pleased...”
James said today’s court appearance would be the last time he would defend a person charged with murder.
“I feel that these young offenders are not regarding human lives as they should. Also, they are destroying the economic viability of our Federation. They are ripping off the state because the state has to pay lawyers to defend them.”
Four individuals, William Benjamin, her husband Leroy Benjamin Jr., Sherwin ‘Squeaky’ George and Khoy ‘Red Rat’ Jeffers were originally charged with Michelle’s murder. Benjamin Jr. and Jeffers were freed after ‘nolle prosequi’ applications were filed on their behalf by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
George’s charge was reduced to “accessory to murder after the fact” and he was convicted.
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