Retired banker's killer gets at least 40 years
Published:Wednesday | December 16, 2015 | 12:00 AMBarbara Gayle
The man convicted of the murder of 61-year-old retired banker Herbert Salicram at Grange Hill Flat near Reach Falls in Machioneal, Portland, is to spend 40 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.
Justice Martin Gayle sentenced 30-year-old Clive Thompson of Manchioneal to life imprisonment and stipulated that he must serve a "long time" in prison for the gruesome murder.
Salicram was at home in February 2009, when a family member alerted him to some strange sounds at the door.
When he went to investigate, two masked men armed with knives forced open the door and stabbed Salicram several times. The men stole a number of household items and money from the house.
They then poured kerosene all over Salicram and the house before setting him and the house ablaze. His body was burnt beyond recognition.
ROBBERY PLOT
The Crown, represented by Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Sharon Millwood Moore, led evidence at the trial in the Home Circuit Court that there was a plot to rob Salicram.
A witness testified that he was part of the plot, but on the day of the incident, he got cold feet and did not go with the accused and the other men.
Evidence was also given that when Thompson was held, he took the police to show them some of the items stolen from Salicram.
In his defence, Thompson said he was innocent of the charge.
He said he had never been to Salicram's house.
The jury retired for less than an hour before returning the guilty verdict.
The prosecution had asked for the death penalty, but the judge said the crime did not fall within that category.
Salicram worked with the Bank of Nova Scotia for many years before he retired to do farming in Portland.