Serial killer gets at least three decades behind bars

Editor’s note: This report contains graphic court accounts of explicit violence

A self-confessed killer who murdered three people, including his mother, in a series of gruesome and remorseless attacks over a five-week period, has been sentenced to life imprisonment with eligibility for release after 33 years.

Ramario Antonio Roach, of Ocean Breeze, River Bay, St Lucy, was charged with the slayings of Tyrone Austin on December 18, 2018, his mother, Joanne Roach, between January 18 and 21, 2019, and Dr Sarah Sutrina between January 20 and 22, 2019. He was 18 years old at the time.

He pleaded not guilty to murder on all three counts but admitted to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility, which was accepted due to his psychiatric report. Roach has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and cannabis use disorder.

Justice Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell sentenced Roach to 35 years for killing Austin and to life imprisonment with a 40-year and 60-year tariff for the slayings of his mother and Dr Sutrina, respectively.

The judge said: “The court has pondered long, with some sleepless nights in trying to arrive at a sentence which would protect society, allow for the treatment of the now convicted man and aid in his rehabilitation; however, the overriding interest for the court must be that of the protection of the members of society and maintaining the public’s confidence in the judicial system.”

In her ruling, the judge highlighted the evidence presented by the psychiatrist regarding the manslayer’s retained responsibility for the killings. She outlined that Roach’s “level of culpability was high and that despite your mental illness, you were aware of what you were doing”.

Justice Smith-Bovell continued: “Dr Chase indicated that the now convicted man’s indication that he will not take his medication on release is a conscious decision not affected by his illness…. The doctor stated that based on his medical opinion, the failure of the now convicted man to continue his medication regimen will create a high risk of recurrence of offences like this. He also indicated that, having killed on previous occasions,persons are likely to be less inhibited in committing the same offences again.”

Considering the aggravating factors, Justice Smith-Bovell found that all three slayings were unprovoked and that all of his victims suffered immensely, particularly focusing on the vulnerability of Austin, an elderly man, and the use of a rock to kill him.

In the case of his mother, the judge considered the brutal nature of the attack as he struck her several times in the head with a rock and slit her throat, partially decapitating her, his use of a knife, and their relationship.

Regarding aggravating factors in the case of Dr Sutrina, Justice Smith-Bovell recounted a brutal and depraved attack in which there was evidence that Roach surveyed her home and lay in wait for her on the verandah. Using a knife, he abducted her and struck her four times in the back of her head with a rock as she was changing a tyre. He then mutilated the woman’s body, stabbing her several times.

Roach had also been using illicit drugs, was thought to be at high risk of reoffending based on the pre-sentence report and the psychiatric report, and showed a lack of remorse.

After deductions were made for his early guilty plea and the 2 599 days so far spent on remand, Roach was left with a sentence of 16 years, 74 days in prison for the death of Austin, and life imprisonment with a tariff of at least 23 years before becoming eligible for release for the manslaughter of Joanne Roach, and life imprisonment with a tariff of at least 33 years for killing Dr Sutrina.

The sentences are to run concurrently.

The judge also ordered that the convicted killer use his time in prison to enroll in any programmes which would develop basic academic and vocational skills, as well as occupational therapy, psychotherapeutic rehabilitation and any other programmes deemed necessary by the psychologist and/or psychiatrist for his rehabilitation.

Moments before the sentencing, Roach read a prepared statement asking God for mercy before apologising for his actions and asking for leniency.

He told the court: “I have done very terrible things in the sight of God and man. I am young, please have mercy on me, Father…. I sinned as a boy, now I’m a man. I now finally understand right from wrong. Had I known then what I know now, I would have never been in this position. Have mercy upon me, Lord. I never intended for this to happen.

“Sorry cannot bring back the lives that I have taken. I have made a couple of mistakes in the eyes of God and man. I am wrong. Thou shalt not kill. Honour thy mother and thy father that thy days may be long in the land of the living which the Lord thy God has given me.

“I am not the same person I used to be. I sincerely apologise to the court, the family and the Almighty Supreme for what I did. I acknowledge that I have caused not only my family but other people’s family tremendous pain. I could only imagine the torture I put these people through.

“Your Honour, please have mercy on me.”

The court heard that the body of 68-year-old Austin of Free Hill, Black Rock, was discovered in a well-traversed track at Walton Drive, Paradise Heights, by a university student on his way home from class.

In his statement, Roach told officers that he met the deceased, who asked for money for rum, but his efforts to get change for a $20 bill proved unsuccessful. They later sat talking in a track, where Austin again expressed a need for rum. Roach then threw a rock and struck him in the head, causing him to fall, before taking another rock and bashing him several more times before leaving the area.

In the slaying of his mother, Joanne, who went to River Bay Beach facility in St Lucy to take a bath, Roach struck her in her head several times and sliced her throat as she was walking back with him.

Roach told detectives that his father had whispered to him to let them kill his mother. Investigations revealed that his father was not involved in the slaying.

The decomposing body of 68-year-old American national Dr Sutrina was discovered by a resident at Ocean Estate, Northumberland, St Lucy.

On the night of January 21, Roach confronted the deceased at her home, and brandishing a knife, forced her to drive him to St Lucy. On the way there, the car struck the road edge in Northumberland, flattening the tyre. He directed her to Ocean Estate, where she stopped to change it. While doing so, Roach attacked and mutilated her.

Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Alliston Seale SC prosecuted the case along with State Counsel Paul Prescod, while Senior Counsel Andrew Pilgrim and attorney Leslie Cargil- Straker represented Roach. jeniqueblegrave@barbadostoday.bb