Hemoutie Raghunauth was 28 years old and was already a mother of one. Hemoutie and her unborn child were poisoned on Mother’s Day, 2000.
From the Toronto Sun:
WHITBY — A man so selfish he murdered his wife and unborn child so he
could begin a new life with his mistress was sentenced to life behind
bars last night. After deliberating for a day and a half, an eight-man,
four-woman jury ruled that Ganesh Raghunauth, 32, was acting out a
well-researched and planned murder when he gave his wife of six years a
Mother’s Day meal laced with sedatives, then force-fed her enough
cyanide to kill her 64 times over.
The jury found Raghunauth killed Hemoutie (Geeta) Raghunauth, 28, on
May 14, 2000, so he could be with his mistress, Indira Seonarain, whom
he planned to marry and move to New York City to be with.
Justice Robert Scott imposed the mandatory life sentence for
first-degree murder.
Scott said Raghunauth, who when testifying in his own defence admitted
to lying, fraud, and adultery, was the “most selfish and deceitful”
person he had ever come across.
“He’s a liar and a thief and now he can add murderer to that,” said
Scott.
The case, though circumstantial, was built, using wiretapped and expert
evidence, cellphone records and the testimony of dozens of co-workers,
family and friends.
Most damning was evidence that Raghunauth celebrated his engagement to
be married to Seonarain at a champagne party three weeks before his
wife was killed.
After the murder, Raghunauth prepared to leave the country and even
signed over power of attorney over his young son to his in-laws.
Police caught Raghunauth trying to cross the border into New York state
on June 28, 2000, with jewelry, certified cheques, an insurance policy
claim on his wife and other assets.
Hemoutie “Geeta” Raghunauth’s last meal was a special lunch prepared and served by her husband, Ganesh, on Mother’s Day 2000 in a suburb of Toronto, Canada. Within hours of the meal, Geeta and her unborn child were dead. Initially investigators thought that her death was a suicide because toxicological analyses of autopsy samples performed by the Centre of Forensic Services in Toronto and the FBI Laboratory’s Chemistry Unit found large doses of temazepam, a sedative drug, and cyanide. But as the investigation progressed, investigators theorized that Ganesh staged a suicide by sedating Geeta with temazepam-spiked food and then force-feeding her cyanide.
Prior to his wife’s death, Mr. Raghunauth collected information from coworkers and the Internet about cyanide and medical procedures. He also asked a friend to get him some cyanide to “get rid of a skunk problem.” Furthermore, Mr. Raghunauth was having an affair, and the couple became engaged three weeks prior to Geeta’s death.
Chemistry Unit personnel performed many of the toxicological analyses on the evidence from this case. In April 2003 an examiner from the Chemistry Unit provided expert testimony at the trial of Ganesh Raghunauth by explaining the results of the toxicological analyses and offering expert opinion regarding the results.
In June 2003 a jury found Ganesh Raghunauth guilty of first-degree murder. He received a mandatory life sentence and will not be eligible for parole for 25 years.
Appeal Transcript: https://ca.vlex.com/vid/r-v-raghunauth-g-681304893
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