A Demerara High Court jury on Monday found Shaquille Foulkes, also known as ‘Max,’ guilty of the 2020 murder of 43-year-old Hanuman Jadunauth, called ‘Baccoo’, a fish vendor.
The unanimous verdict was delivered by a mixed 12-member jury before Justice Navindra Singh.
The fish vendor was last seen alive on March 30, 2020, in the company of Foulkes and another person. Surveillance footage tendered during the trial, showed Foulkes walking with Jadnauth, who was carrying a water bottle that the former had reportedly instructed him to fetch.
Later footage revealed Foulkes striking Jadunauth while he carried the bottle. Additional video evidence captured Foulkes walking back along Swan Street, Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara (WBD) with a knife in his hand.
On the morning of March 31, 2020, police were called to Swan Street, Pouderoyen, where they found Jadunauth lying unconscious with multiple stab wounds to his chest, neck, and body.
He was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.Foulkes was arrested on April 2, 2020, and confronted with the surveillance footage two days later. During questioning, he admitted to being the individual in the video but claimed the knife belonged to someone else and that he had disposed of it in a trench at the end of the street.
He later led police to the area where he said the knife was discarded, but it was never recovered.Witnesses testified to seeing Foulkes in the company of the now deceased before his death and later observed him holding a knife after the fatal stabbing.
Despite the evidence, Foulkes denied involvement, claiming he had gone straight to his aunt’s house in Meten-Meer-Zorg, West Coast Demerara (WCD), after leaving a party on the night of the incident.
He also denied living in Pouderoyen, despite leading officers to his residence during the investigation.
The prosecution team, led by attorneys Christopher Belfield and Muntaz Ali, presented compelling evidence, including video footage and witness testimonies.
Foulkes was represented by defence counsel Lawrence Harris.Justice Singh has set February 17, 2025, for sentencing. Foulkes, now 34, remains in custody pending his sentencing hearing.
