Orlando Wade, 33, the first convicted murderer for the New Year, 2011, has received a sentence of life imprisonment from Justice Adolph Lucas despite the attempts of his defense attorney, Kevin Arthurs, to refer to other international cases in which there were lesser sentences for convicts based on time served.
Arthurs called upon Wade’s sister and mother, who pleaded to the court for leniency, during mitigation, and who asked the court to take into account their knowledge of their kin’s character traits. Arthurs also asked the court to consider Wade’s past record, which is spotless.
Justice Lucas, however, after listening to the mitigation pleas and Arthurs’case references, told the court that he had rendered a verdict in favor of Senior Crown Counsel, Yohanhseh Cave’s request for a life imprisonment sentence.
Justice Lucas explained that he had not heard “a whisper” from either the defense attorney or Wade on whether he was remorseful for taking the life of Dorla Pitterson.
“I have heard testimony from your [Wade’s] mother and your sister; I have not heard a whisper from you or your counsel on how remorseful you are; I have no other recourse but to render life imprisonment with effect from January 17, 2011,” said Justice Lucas.
Wade was found guilty of the murder of Pitterson by a twelve-man jury panel, on Monday, January 17, 2011.
Pitterson’s gruesome murder took place behind a popular bar spot called Sylvia’s Cool Spot in Sandhill, on June 23, 2008, and it shook the very core of the normally peaceful village of Sandhill.
Residents of Sandhill and citizens over the entire country were dumbfounded on June 24, 2008, when this forty-five-year-old mother of two was found dead, partially nude, stuffed into a well which was covered by an umbrella.
At the end of the post-mortem done on Pitterson’s body, the doctor certified that she had been strangled with a piece of rope or wire for at least five to six minutes; the doctor also concluded that she had been beaten and raped.
Amandala spoke very briefly with Pitterson’s sister, Geraldine Flowers, after the sentencing and asked her how she felt about the court’s decision, to which she replied, “I feel good, justice has been served,” as she smiled and went to report the news to the rest of her family.