by Linda Straker
- Originally sentenced to death after he was convicted for the murder of 15-year-old
- In 2006, his death sentence was reduced to 18 years
- Released from prison on 19 January 2019
Eleven months after being released from prison, Edmund Gilbert, the Spiritual Baptist leader who was convicted for murder and served a reduced sentence of 18 years imprisonment at the Richmond Hill prison, died at the General Hospital.
Gilbert was originally sentenced to death after he was convicted for the murder of 15-year-old Robbie-Ann Jeremiah. His conviction was commuted by the Privy Council.
The road to his freedom was one filled with legal twists and turns. In 2006, his then-lawyer Anslem Clouden was able to successfully appeal his death sentence, reducing it to 18 years. Gilbert was released from prison on 19 January 2019.
The 80-year-old Gilbert was known to be suffering from complications due to diabetes and cancer. He had been hospitalised on many occasions while in prison. He spent the last month of his life at the General Hospital where he died last week Saturday. A date for his funeral is yet to be decided.
A former tax collector for the Government of Grenada, Gilbert who was the Archbishop of the Unicorn Spiritual Baptist Church in Springs, St George, was apprehended and convicted for the teenager’s murder.
According to court records, he had an ongoing sexual relationship with Jeremiah. Prosecutors were able to convince a judge and jury in December 2001 that Gilbert, sometime between 31 January and 1 February 2001, strangled the young girl who was a member of his congregation. He was aged 60 at the time.
Her lifeless body was found in True Blue after police received a cellular phone call from a male voice on more than one occasion informing them that “the body of a young girl was on top True Blue hill.” The call was traced by the relevant authorities and it was proven to come from a number assigned to Gilbert’s name.
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Now he will meet his maker and ultimate judge.