Man admits to being sentenced 20 times for removing corpses from cemetery
Published:Wednesday | April 27, 2022 | 12:05 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
A 63-year-old ex-convict shocked persons in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Monday after he revealed that he was sentenced 20 times for removing bodies from the cemetery.
The accused, Donovan Butler, also told the court that he had just finished serving a three-year prison sentence in April on the last time when he was charged.
Butler made the startling revelation when he appeared in court on allegations that he tricked a man out of $7,000. He was remanded until June 15.
The court heard that on July 9, 2019, the accused told the complainant that he was robbed of his motor car and his licensed firearm and needed assistance to go to the police station.
The complainant agreed to assist, but while on the journey to the police station, Butler reportedly told the complainant not to bother take him to the station and, instead, borrowed $7,000 and disappeared.
On April 4, the complainant spotted him and summoned the police. Subsequently, he was arrested and charged with larceny by trick.
As soon as he walked into the prisoner dock on Monday, he was instantly recognised by Senior Parish Judge Lori-Anne Cole-Montaque.
“You come before me already, don’t you?” she asked
“Yes, sometime ago,” Butler responded.
She then asked him how many previous convictions he had.
“Twenty, ma’am,” he replied.
When she asked what were the type of offences, Butler said, “ For removing a corpse from the cemetery.”
“And what else,” the judge further asked
“That’s it, ma’am,” he said, while explaining that he had pleaded guilty 20 times to removing the bodies.
During further dialogue with the judge, he told her that she was the one who had sentenced him to prison on the last occasion.
But as it relates to the current case, he told her that it could not have been him, as he was in prison at the time the offence is said to have taken place.
The complainant, however, was not present in court. As a result, Butler was remanded and a mention date was scheduled for efforts to be made to have the complainant in court.