Sentencing delayed for JDF physiotherapist who killed wife
Published:Thursday | May 23, 2024 | 3:57 PMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
The sentencing for former Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) physiotherapist Kyodia Burnett, who stabbed and killed his wife Nordraka Williams-Burnett in December 2018, was yesterday postponed to Friday in the Home Circuit Court.
The sentencing was delayed after the presiding judge, Justice Dale Palmer, requested additional time.
On February 5, Burnett, who had been charged with murder, pleaded guilty to manslaughter based on diminished responsibility ahead of the start of the trial.
Burnett’s attorney, Jacqueline Samuels-Brown, has recommended that he be given a supervisory order with no more than three years. The prosecutor, however, has suggested a starting point of five years, arguing that Burnett needs to be punished so that he can understand the consequences of his actions as he was aware since 2008 that he was suffering from mental illness.
The military man, who has struggled with mental illnesses over the years, had confessed to committing the act, claiming “voices” told him to kill his 34-year-old wife.
The body of the attorney-at-law was found lying on a bed with multiple stab wounds inside the couple’s West Kirkland Heights, St Andrew, house on the morning of December 13, 2008.
The couple’s two young daughters, who were not harmed, were inside the house at the time of the incident.
The court heard that Williams-Burnett was first diagnosed with ‘generalised anxiety depression in 2018, but that his condition worsened and resulted in him being diagnosed with major depressive disorder with anxious distress in January 2018.
The court further heard that the ex-soldier, who was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder – ‘the depressive type’ – was at one point placed on suicide watch.
During the trial, the statement of his then-eight-year-old daughter, which detailed her experience on the night of the unfortunate incident, was read into evidence.
“I heard Mommy shouting at Daddy, then I heard Daddy talking, but I did not hear Mommy responding. Early Thursday morning, I went to look for Mommy and Daddy. I saw their bedroom door open and I saw Mommy’s two legs first, then I saw Mommy lying on the bed. I saw something red on the bed. The red thing that I saw on the bed looks like blood,” she said in her statement.
“I saw Mommy stand up and was screaming. I then saw Mommy fall down on the floor and I saw my Daddy lift up Mommy and put her on the bed. When I saw Daddy lift up Mommy and put her on the bed, he walked to the bedroom door and closed it; he was in the room. When Daddy locked himself in the room, I went back into my room. I hugged my little sister and went to bed, but I could not sleep,” she added.