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18 December 2001
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Killer churchman sentenced to death
From AP
18dec01
A PROMINENT church leader has been sentenced to death for the murder of a 15-year-old girl who had been part of his congregation for years.
Archbishop Edmund Gilbert, 60, of the Unicorn Spiritual Baptist Church, appeared shaken as Judge Othneil Sylvester read the sentence on the Caribbean island of Grenada today.
Relatives of the victim, Robbie-Ann Jeremiah, were jubilant.
"Now I know that justice is still around," said the girl's mother, Maureen Jeremiah, who hugged prosecutors after hearing the sentence.
The 12-member jury unanimously convicted Gilbert last Wednesday.
The prosecution said he strangled the girl and later placed an anonymous call to police to report the killing.
Murder can carry a penalty of either life in prison or death in Grenada.
The jury found Gilbert guilty of capital murder, which carries a mandatory death sentence.
It was unclear however when or if Gilbert's death sentence would be carried out.
Grenada has not carried out an execution since the mid-1970s when three men convicted of raping and killing a woman were hanged.
"The circumstances surrounding the conduct of the trial were not fair," defence lawyer Anslem Clouden told Grenada Broadcasting Network radio.
Clouden said he planned to take the case to the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeals and, if necessary, the London-based British Privy Council, the highest court for many former British colonies.
The girl's body was found near Grenada's airport on February 1.
Gilbert was arrested a week later after police traced a call to his mobile phone. The caller told police where to find the body.
Gilbert said he had reported his phone stolen but a witness testified she saw Gilbert with it just hours before the girl's body was found.
Jeweller Livingston Leguerre also testified that Gilbert brought in a necklace for repair on the day that Robbie-Ann's body was found. Friends identified the necklace as belonging to the girl.
Defence lawyers alleged Robbie-Ann had been attacked by three men the night before her body was found, but a friend of the girl testified she was with Robbie-Ann that night and no one threatened her.
The defence also argued that Gilbert hadn't seen Robbie-Ann on January 31, although a police officer testified he saw the two together that day.
Robbie-Ann's mother testified she was troubled by her daughter's relationship with the clergyman, which she believed was inappropriate.
Gilbert also worked as a tax collector and was a prominent member of Grenada's governing party.
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