Two
Trinidadian prisoners in the United Kingdom accused of killing three Britons in
the Port Spain may not be indicted with the death penalty due to their
intellectual levels.
According
to the World Health Organisation's guideline that classifies any person with an
IQ below 70 as "intellectually disabled", could be considered a case
of insanity rather than criminal.
Lester
Pitman is convicted of killing BBC Lynette Lithgow 51, Maggie Lee 83 and
brother-in-law
John Cropper 59 in their bathroom from their bungalow property.
The three
were found with their hands tied behind their backs. Their throats were slit.
Authorities
believe Pitman was to rob the house in 2004 but was forced to murder the three
in 2004.
He was sentenced with death penalty in Trinidad, his original country.
In 2013, his case was commuted to 40 years in jail.
A court of
appeal hearing declared Pitman to be sentenced properly with the death penalty.
Experts
measured Pitman's IQ to be initially at 52 and then at 67, which can use the
global precedent on IQs to avoid the death penalty.
Another
prisoner, Neil Hernandez, had killed Christine Henry and her six-year old son
Philip in Toco in Trinidad in May 2000 with a cutlass used for coconut
harvesting. He was to receive the death penalty but had his sentenced commuted
to 25 years due to his long wait for the death penalty.
Experts measured his IQ
at 57, which may also exempt him from the death penalty permanently.
