Taxi driver acquitted of murder of school teacher, Kescia Branche

After almost five years on remand, Matthew Munroe, who was accused of murdering school teacher, Kescia Branche back in 2017, was acquitted of the crime by a jury.

Munroe, a taxi driver formerly of Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara (EBD), was indicted on Tuesday morning for the capital offence of murder following his arraignment before Justice Sandil Kissoon at the High Court in Demerara.

He had pleaded not guilty to the crime, and Justice Kissoon later revealed that the prosecution was unable to locate key witnesses and, as such, noted that it would be unable to prove the elements of the offence.

In light of this, the trial judge directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty. State Counsels Abigail Gibb, Taneisha Sagon, and Mohammed Ali presented the prosecution's case, while the murder accused was represented by attorneys Dexter Todd, Dexter Smartt, Jevon Cox, and Shercola Exeter.

According to reports, Munroe was detained after returning from an overseas vacation. He reportedly travelled on vacation to the United States of America (USA) around the same time that Branche was found unconscious at Louisa Row, Georgetown.

Police impounded his vehicle, which had a missing bumper. Munroe reportedly told police that he had driven into a pothole on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD), resulting in the damage.

However, he was unable to show police the location. Branche's battered body was found on November 5, 2017. She succumbed two days later at the Georgetown Public Hospital without regaining consciousness.

It was reported that her injuries appeared to be consistent with those inflicted by the impact of a vehicle. A Post Mortem Examination (PME) revealed that she succumbed to brain haemorrhage caused by blunt trauma to the head.