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Sex-filled love story that ended in murder
By JADA LOUTOO Wednesday, January 11 2012
MURDER VICTIM: Georgiana Sookoo...
HER FREQUENT taunts about her infidelity with a former lover, and his inability to satisfy her sexually, may have led Vishwanath Sharma to chop his wife of eight months ten times, leading to her eventual death.
“I lost control, or lost consciousness, or something,” Sharma said as he defended himself at his trial where he is charged with the murder of his wife, Georgiana Sookoo on October 24, 2003 at Mc Shine Street, Sangre Grande.
Sharma, 49, is before Justice Hayden St Clair Douglas in the Port-of-Spain Sixth Criminal Court.
Sookoo was chopped about the face and body. She died at hospital.
In an emotional defence, Sharma said he regretted his actions, and preferred that his wife was still alive, even if she did not want him anymore.
Sharma’s evidence was a “story of love,” his attorney Daniel Khan told the jury in a rare opening address.
Khan said his client was not denying he killed Sookoo. Khan said he chose the uncustomary move to address the jury because he did not want to confuse them since his client had pleaded not guilty to his wife’s murder.
“I have not challenged the evidence of the prosecution. You will hear that he killed the deceased. You will hear of the events leading up to the incident. His is a story of love; love gone wrong.”
During his testimony Sharma repeatedly said he loved Sookoo. “I love her very much. I wanted things to work out for us,” he said.
Describing the incident which ended the life of his wife as a travesty, Sharma said he hated himself for it.
“I really loved her. I know I am not no saint, neither that it is for me to say I haven’t done anything wrong but there are things that happen to me, and my wife. I took responsibility for it because I loved her very much. Even if she didn’t want to live with me any more. I still prefer that she be alive, and unharmed,” he said in tears.
Sharma admitted to having made several mistakes in his life, including being a womaniser, selling drugs, and using alcohol.
He said he was scared, and believed he lost control because of what she told him of her sexual encounters with a former lover.
“I believed when she said those things to me, I lost control. I must have chopped her,” he said.
Sharma testified that it was only after his wife’s screams he looked at her, he saw her damaged face. He panicked and ran.
According to the autopsy report, the left side of Sookoo’s face was partially torn off during the frenzied attack. She was also chopped on the head with the cutlass which cut through the outer bone of her skull, her arm, hand, leg and foot.
In explicit details, Sharma spoke of Sookoo’s repeated taunts of his inability to satisfy her sexually, and the description of her relationship with the man she was having an affair with, including the fact she was having anal sex with her lover.
He said there were times when she would say she loved him, and times when she said she did not. “Sometimes she would threaten me,” he said. As he began his evidence, Sharma said he had moved to Canada in 1988. He lived in Canada with his wife Cynthia, and their four children. He moved to Canada to seek a better life, but was deported in 2000 after he was convicted for trafficking cocaine.
His wife and children remained in Canada, and on the same day he arrived in Trinidad, he saw Sookoo — whom he had known since his childhood days, and had a previous relationship with her, prior to going to Canada — on the side of the road. He stopped the taxi and they spoke. The next evening, he went to Sookoo’s home at Mc Shine Street. They spoke and made love, he said. He moved in with Sookoo and they began living together. He said leaving his wife and children in Canada left him sad and frustrated, but reconciling with Sookoo, made him comfortable.
“We started getting closer and loving each other,” he said. Sharma said they became so close people would refer to them as “love birds” and commented that they looked cute with each other.
The atmosphere of love did not last. Things started to change about 2002, after Sookoo found a letter from his wife, Cynthia. Sharma said he asked Sookoo if she had gone crazy because of the way she was acting.
She chopped him on the left hand, and he had to undergo surgery, he claimed.
After that, Sharma said things returned to “normal” until they fought again and Sookoo asked him to leave.
He began renting in St Augustine until one day when she visited him at his workplace. They had lunch and spent the afternoon and night together in his apartment. They began seeing each other regularly, and he moved back in with her after she asked him to. Again things returned to normal, he said, and Sookoo told him she wanted to get married.
“I told her that’s fine with me,” he said, The couple married on February 27, 2003. “I loved my wife;. I was in love with her.”
Some three months later, Sharma said he returned home and found one of her friends inside. The friend was Sookoo’s former lover Marvin Wilson, Sharma claimed.
“I asked what was going on. She told me this is her home, and she could do as she pleased.”
“I was sad and very disappointed, because it wasn’t long ago we got married.” After Wilson left, things again returned to normal, Sharma testified. “But it did not remain so.”
A few weeks later, he returned home again to find Wilson and two other friends in the kitchen drinking. They began arguing and he said Sookoo flung a knife at him. He received stitches and “things went back to normal, for a few days.”
He recounted an incident at a wedding of a relative where he said Sookoo spent the night dancing with Wilson. He called her aside and spoke to her about it, because he was uncomfortable with it. When the couple returned home, he said she was sitting spread-eagled on the sofa in the kitchen. When he told her he never had sex with someone as beautiful as she looked in the dress she wore, she threw an iron at him as he was about to kiss her.
He received a cut to his head. Yet again Sharma said things returned to normal and then in August or September, Wilson began visiting more regularly.
“Things get uptight with me and my wife. We were quarrelling every day, or almost every day over the affair she was having with Wilson,” he said. It was then she began taunting him about her sexual relations with Wilson.
“Things were getting rougher daily,” he admitted. ‘She’d always say things to hurt me.” He said when he questioned her about her overnight stays, it would cause more argument.
“I was depressed, and I know it seems strange, but I loved my wife and was trying to make things work out,” he said.
The couple again had another physical altercation after Wilson came to the house early in the morning, and Sookoo went out to speak with him in a sheer nightdress. He said he told her to change, because she was almost naked and she picked up a bucket and swung it at him.
Sometime later, the couple again got into a heated argument after he asked her why her hair was falling off. He claimed Sookoo again explicitly told him of her sexual exploits with Wilson.
Two days before the attack, Sharma said he was chased by Wilson, Sookoo, her son and some of Wilson’s friends as he was returning home, and was forced to run to a neighbour’s house to call the police. After the police spoke to the couple, Sharma said he took some clothes, and left.
He returned to the house on October 23. At first, Sharma said Sookoo was sleeping, but then he said he made a mistake, and that she was not at home. He said he returned to the house at about 1 am and went to her bedroom. She awoke and asked him what he was doing there. “I said you are my wife, and I want to talk,” he said.
They went to the kitchen, Sookoo, he said, pulled a cutlass and told him her children did not want him coming there. He disarmed her, and they went outside and began talking about reconciling. He said they began hugging and kissing for a brief moment until she felt the cutlass under his shirt. He said the cutlass was the same one he took from her, and explained to her that he had it for his protection in the event the guys rushed him.
He said his wife accused him of wanting to make problems for her because she was with Wilson. The two began fighting for the cutlass when he said he tugged it away and she fell to the ground screaming. “At that time I felt the reason why she was doing this to me, was to drive me crazy, or put me in a place to get hurt. I was scared,” he said.
Sharma, 49, is before Justice Hayden St Clair Douglas in the Port-of-Spain Sixth Criminal Court.
Sookoo was chopped about the face and body. She died at hospital.
In an emotional defence, Sharma said he regretted his actions, and preferred that his wife was still alive, even if she did not want him anymore.
Sharma’s evidence was a “story of love,” his attorney Daniel Khan told the jury in a rare opening address.
Khan said his client was not denying he killed Sookoo. Khan said he chose the uncustomary move to address the jury because he did not want to confuse them since his client had pleaded not guilty to his wife’s murder.
“I have not challenged the evidence of the prosecution. You will hear that he killed the deceased. You will hear of the events leading up to the incident. His is a story of love; love gone wrong.”
During his testimony Sharma repeatedly said he loved Sookoo. “I love her very much. I wanted things to work out for us,” he said.
Describing the incident which ended the life of his wife as a travesty, Sharma said he hated himself for it.
“I really loved her. I know I am not no saint, neither that it is for me to say I haven’t done anything wrong but there are things that happen to me, and my wife. I took responsibility for it because I loved her very much. Even if she didn’t want to live with me any more. I still prefer that she be alive, and unharmed,” he said in tears.
Sharma admitted to having made several mistakes in his life, including being a womaniser, selling drugs, and using alcohol.
He said he was scared, and believed he lost control because of what she told him of her sexual encounters with a former lover.
“I believed when she said those things to me, I lost control. I must have chopped her,” he said.
Sharma testified that it was only after his wife’s screams he looked at her, he saw her damaged face. He panicked and ran.
According to the autopsy report, the left side of Sookoo’s face was partially torn off during the frenzied attack. She was also chopped on the head with the cutlass which cut through the outer bone of her skull, her arm, hand, leg and foot.
In explicit details, Sharma spoke of Sookoo’s repeated taunts of his inability to satisfy her sexually, and the description of her relationship with the man she was having an affair with, including the fact she was having anal sex with her lover.
He said there were times when she would say she loved him, and times when she said she did not. “Sometimes she would threaten me,” he said. As he began his evidence, Sharma said he had moved to Canada in 1988. He lived in Canada with his wife Cynthia, and their four children. He moved to Canada to seek a better life, but was deported in 2000 after he was convicted for trafficking cocaine.
His wife and children remained in Canada, and on the same day he arrived in Trinidad, he saw Sookoo — whom he had known since his childhood days, and had a previous relationship with her, prior to going to Canada — on the side of the road. He stopped the taxi and they spoke. The next evening, he went to Sookoo’s home at Mc Shine Street. They spoke and made love, he said. He moved in with Sookoo and they began living together. He said leaving his wife and children in Canada left him sad and frustrated, but reconciling with Sookoo, made him comfortable.
“We started getting closer and loving each other,” he said. Sharma said they became so close people would refer to them as “love birds” and commented that they looked cute with each other.
The atmosphere of love did not last. Things started to change about 2002, after Sookoo found a letter from his wife, Cynthia. Sharma said he asked Sookoo if she had gone crazy because of the way she was acting.
She chopped him on the left hand, and he had to undergo surgery, he claimed.
After that, Sharma said things returned to “normal” until they fought again and Sookoo asked him to leave.
He began renting in St Augustine until one day when she visited him at his workplace. They had lunch and spent the afternoon and night together in his apartment. They began seeing each other regularly, and he moved back in with her after she asked him to. Again things returned to normal, he said, and Sookoo told him she wanted to get married.
“I told her that’s fine with me,” he said, The couple married on February 27, 2003. “I loved my wife;. I was in love with her.”
Some three months later, Sharma said he returned home and found one of her friends inside. The friend was Sookoo’s former lover Marvin Wilson, Sharma claimed.
“I asked what was going on. She told me this is her home, and she could do as she pleased.”
“I was sad and very disappointed, because it wasn’t long ago we got married.” After Wilson left, things again returned to normal, Sharma testified. “But it did not remain so.”
A few weeks later, he returned home again to find Wilson and two other friends in the kitchen drinking. They began arguing and he said Sookoo flung a knife at him. He received stitches and “things went back to normal, for a few days.”
He recounted an incident at a wedding of a relative where he said Sookoo spent the night dancing with Wilson. He called her aside and spoke to her about it, because he was uncomfortable with it. When the couple returned home, he said she was sitting spread-eagled on the sofa in the kitchen. When he told her he never had sex with someone as beautiful as she looked in the dress she wore, she threw an iron at him as he was about to kiss her.
He received a cut to his head. Yet again Sharma said things returned to normal and then in August or September, Wilson began visiting more regularly.
“Things get uptight with me and my wife. We were quarrelling every day, or almost every day over the affair she was having with Wilson,” he said. It was then she began taunting him about her sexual relations with Wilson.
“Things were getting rougher daily,” he admitted. ‘She’d always say things to hurt me.” He said when he questioned her about her overnight stays, it would cause more argument.
“I was depressed, and I know it seems strange, but I loved my wife and was trying to make things work out,” he said.
The couple again had another physical altercation after Wilson came to the house early in the morning, and Sookoo went out to speak with him in a sheer nightdress. He said he told her to change, because she was almost naked and she picked up a bucket and swung it at him.
Sometime later, the couple again got into a heated argument after he asked her why her hair was falling off. He claimed Sookoo again explicitly told him of her sexual exploits with Wilson.
Two days before the attack, Sharma said he was chased by Wilson, Sookoo, her son and some of Wilson’s friends as he was returning home, and was forced to run to a neighbour’s house to call the police. After the police spoke to the couple, Sharma said he took some clothes, and left.
He returned to the house on October 23. At first, Sharma said Sookoo was sleeping, but then he said he made a mistake, and that she was not at home. He said he returned to the house at about 1 am and went to her bedroom. She awoke and asked him what he was doing there. “I said you are my wife, and I want to talk,” he said.
They went to the kitchen, Sookoo, he said, pulled a cutlass and told him her children did not want him coming there. He disarmed her, and they went outside and began talking about reconciling. He said they began hugging and kissing for a brief moment until she felt the cutlass under his shirt. He said the cutlass was the same one he took from her, and explained to her that he had it for his protection in the event the guys rushed him.
He said his wife accused him of wanting to make problems for her because she was with Wilson. The two began fighting for the cutlass when he said he tugged it away and she fell to the ground screaming. “At that time I felt the reason why she was doing this to me, was to drive me crazy, or put me in a place to get hurt. I was scared,” he said.
He hid the cutlass behind a wall
Thursday, January 12 2012
Sharma then admitted he may have chopped his wife and heard her screams, and that of their neighbour Sherifa Mohammed. He said he ran to the mosque on Coalmine Road, crossed come bushes, and went to the river where he washed his clothes.
He then went behind the mosque where he showered, and hid the cutlass behind a wall.
Sharma then went to his mother’s house where he stayed.
That same morning the police took him in for questioning, and he handed over the clothing he was wearing. and took them to where he hid the cutlass. In cross examination, Sharma admitted he gave a confession statement to the police.
Sharma said he had no medical certificates to verify the injuries he received as a result of the physical attacks by his wife, nor did he report them to the police.
He said he knew Sookoo and Wilson were involved in a relationship before, as well as admitting to living with Sookoo while still being married to Cynthia. He said he was never violent towards Sookoo.
The trial continues today when prosecution Jennifer Martin resumes her cross examination.
Sharma then went to his mother’s house where he stayed.
That same morning the police took him in for questioning, and he handed over the clothing he was wearing. and took them to where he hid the cutlass. In cross examination, Sharma admitted he gave a confession statement to the police.
Sharma said he had no medical certificates to verify the injuries he received as a result of the physical attacks by his wife, nor did he report them to the police.
He said he knew Sookoo and Wilson were involved in a relationship before, as well as admitting to living with Sookoo while still being married to Cynthia. He said he was never violent towards Sookoo.
The trial continues today when prosecution Jennifer Martin resumes her cross examination.
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