MORE than two decades after brutally killing his estranged partner and evading capture, Gautier Jerome Fernandes, on Tuesday, pleaded guilty to the 2002 murder of Taijwantie ‘Roshanie’ Sooklall.
Fernandes, 53, entered the guilty plea before Justice Zamilla Ally-Seepaul at the High Court in Demerara. He will be sentenced on August 26, 2025, at 9:00 a.m., pending the submission of several reports and statements ordered by the court.

According to the case presented by State Counsel Christopher Belfield, assisted by State Counsel Praneta Seeraj and State Counsel Nelissa Peterkin, the murder occurred sometime between January 26 and 27, 2002, at Diamond, East Bank Demerara (EBD). The victim, a 22-year-old mother of three, had left Fernandes after enduring years of abuse and was living with her brother at the time.
On the night of the murder, Sooklall had spent the day at a friend’s house. As she walked home late that night, accompanied by a friend, Fernandes ambushed her along a dirt road and slashed her throat. Her friend managed to escape and raise the alarm. Fernandes fled the area and successfully evaded law enforcement for 20 years.
The case remained unsolved until June 2022, when police, acting on information, arrested Fernandes at Onderneeming, Region Two—while he was preparing to be married. Police later confirmed that investigators were able to secure a confession in which Fernandes admitted to killing Sooklall and injuring her friend, Williams.
Following his guilty plea, Justice Ally-Seepaul ordered the preparation of several documents ahead of sentencing, including a prison conduct report, victim impact statements, psychiatric evaluations, and submissions of aggravating and mitigating factors.
Defence attorney Adrian Thompson is also expected to submit character witness statements on Fernandes’ behalf.