- Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer
Paul Gooden's lawyers Lord Anthony Gifford Q.C., Thalia Maragh and Hugh Thompson leave the court after his trial for the murder of his wife.
Brbara Gayle, Staff Reporter
THE TRIAL of 39-year-old Paul Gooden which generated widespread publicity ended on Friday when Mrs. Justice Marva McIntosh sentenced him to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife, 36-year-old Ingrid Andrade-Gooden. Gooden, who will be 40 years old next month, will not leave prison until he is 75 years old.
The judge in passing sentence recommended that Gooden, a former distribution consultant at Yummy Bakery, Kingston, should not be eligible for parole until he served 35 years.
"This crime was particularly cruel," the judge told Gooden who just stared at the judge without any signs of emotion.
But as his mother, musician and singer Pat Gooden, left the courthouse on Friday morning, she said, "I did not expect such a sentence," for a case based on circumstantial evidence.
Gooden's lawyers, Lord Anthony Gifford, Q.C., Hugh Thompson and Thalia Maragh said they were going to file an appeal against conviction and sentence. Hugh Thompson said the sentence was harsh for a crime of passion.
Last week Wednesday the 12-member jury comprising six men and six women found Gooden guilty of non-capital murder after a four and a half-week trial in the Home Circuit Court. The jury deliberated for almost four hours.
EVIDENCE
The Crown represented by Kent Pantry, Q.C., Director of Public Prosecutions, David Fraser, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions and Diahann Gordon-Harrison, Crown Counsel, led evidence at the trial which began on October 26 that Gooden strangled his wife at their home at Hartford Towers Apart-ment, 7 Sullivan Avenue, St. Andrew between November 6 and 7 last year. The body was found dumped in mangroves, with the face mangled beyond recognition at 7.30 a.m. on November 8 last year. The police and Government analyst Sherron Brydson and Gooden went to the apartment the next day and human blood was found on several items in the apartment. Gooden was then taken into custody that same day for questioning. He has been in custody since that time.
The deceased's parents, Glen Andrade, Q.C., retired Director of Public Prosecutions and his wife Ruby, retired Registrar of Titles, identified the deceased by the unusual big toes and the clothes the deceased was wearing.
Jealousy, obsession and rejection were the motives, the Crown put forward for the motive and called evidence to prove them. The Crown relied on circumstantial evidence to prove its case because there was no eyewitness to the murder.
Gooden denied killing his wife. He told the jury he loved his wife and two children. The defence tendered several e-mails which were sent to his wife by one Victor Hugo and e-mails sent to her by Hugo which gave the impression that his wife was involved in a love affair with Hugo who had come to Jamaica in October last year. Gooden gave the impression in his defence that someone who his wife met on the Internet could have murdered her.
LYING
He also admitted lying in his statement to the police that the blood found in the apartment was menstrual blood. He said he lied because of police pressure and because he was grieving for his wife. He also admitted lying to a security guard that a cat had scratched him on his hand. According to Gooden he gave the security that explanation because he did not know her for long and did not want to discuss his personal matters with her. Gooden admitted in court that it was his wife who scratched him shortly before she left the apartment on November 7, last year. He said the last time he saw his wife was minutes to six on the morning of November 7 last year when she left home saying she was going to meet someone at the gate.
