Convicted murderers Brandon Lee Wells and Travien Liddie may have to wait until the New Year to know their fate.
Wells, 21, and Liddie 20, were on October 11, convicted of the murder of Wells’ sister 17-year-old Leanna Napoleon.
The Basseterre High School student went missing in May 2017 after writing one of her CXC exams. More than a month later acting on information police discovered her decomposing body in a shallow grave in the hills of Olivees.
During the trial the jury heard that Brandon had plotted his sister’s death for months. His alleged motive? Leanna was ‘causing confusion’ over the house Brandon lived in at Shadwell, which had belonged to the siblings’ deceased mother.
Leanna reportedly died a gruesome death at the hands of her brother. Details revealed during the trial were that Brandon lured his sister to the house on the day she last seen, and while his friend Travien restrained her, Brandon repeatedly struck Leanna in the head with a hammer. With the assistance of two others, Leanna’s body was put in a garbage bag and buried.
Police had initially charged Wells, Liddie and Ivan “Chinyman” Phillip with murder. However Phillips’ charge was reduced to Accessory After the Fact for his role in helping to dispose of the body. The 21-year-old pleaded guilty to the charge and in September was sentenced to 5 years and 8 months in prison.
Wells and Liddie were found guilty of murder and Perverting the course of justice. Director of Public Prosecutions Valston Graham filed an application seeking the death penalty for both young men, saying justice for Leanne required it.
At the pair’s sentencing hearing Friday morning Justice Trevor Warde QC said he had no option but to adjourn sentencing as the psychiatric report and victim impact statement had not been completed. He also noted that while the DPP had filed the death penalty application, he had not filed the required submissions to support it. The judge gave additional time for those submissions and responses from the defendants and set a December date for a status hearing. Defense attorneys Chesley Hamilton and Natasha Grey said considering the absence of the reports they had no difficulty with the sentencing being adjourned, which considering the carnival and Christmas break, could mean the men would not be sentenced until early in January 2020.
Wells and Liddie remain on remand at Her Majesty’s Prison.