A ST CATHERINE businessman who murdered two men over a cocaine deal has been sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to serve 40 years before he can be eligible for parole.
In January, a 12-member jury found David Russell, 45, of West Bay, St Catherine, guilty of the double murder, and sentencing was put off until Monday.
He was convicted of the murder of assistant racehorse trainer Emelio Richards and cook-shop operator Omar 'Lotto' Watson, both from Portmore, St Catherine.
Senior Puisne Judge Gloria Smith sentenced Russell to 30 years' imprisonment at hard labour for Richards' murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to serve 40 years' imprisonment before being eligible for parole for Watson's murder.
The bodies, with bullet wounds to the heads, were found in cane fields off the Dunbeholden main road, St Catherine, on May 28, 2006.
The Crown, represented by prosecutors Lisa Palmer Hamilton and Andrea Martin-Swaby, led evidence at the three-week trial that on May 28, 2006, the two deceased and another man went to Russell's home at West Bay, Portmore, St Catherine, to sell him cocaine.
After the cocaine was handed over, the men's hands were tied, their faces masked and they were placed in the car in which they had travelled.
Someone drove the car in which the men were placed and Russell drove in front to the Dunbeholden main road. A third motor car with several men was also in the convoy.
shot in a cane field
The men were taken to a cane field and shot in the head. The third man survived and crawled to the main road where he was assisted by passers-by.
He gave a statement to the police, but was fatally shot in 2007, a day before the preliminary inquiry was to start. However, his statement was tendered in evidence.
A policeman also testified to seeing Russell driving along the Dunbeholden road shortly before the shooting took place.
Russell, in his defence, said he was innocent of the charges.
He said in an interview with the police when he was taken into custody that he was at a football match at Union Gardens, Kingston, during the incident.:scre
