HGP Nightly News – Twenty-seven-year-old labourer Brian Richards has admitted to the 2023 murder of educator and entertainer Kirwyn Mars, popularly known as “Sir Mars,” bringing the trial stage of the high-profile case to an end.
Richards entered a guilty plea on Monday before Justice Joy Persaud-Singh at the High Court in Demerara.
The matter has now been adjourned to June 2, 2026, when Richards is expected to be sentenced.
Mars, who was widely known for his work as an entertainer and educator, died following a violent encounter at Providence, East Bank Demerara, on May 7, 2023.
State attorneys Padma Dubraj, Nelissa Peterkin and Aliyah Heywood are prosecuting the case, while Richards is being represented by defence attorney Ronald Bostwick.
The case had previously been sent to the High Court after a preliminary inquiry at the Diamond/Grove Magistrates’ Courts. At the end of those proceedings, Senior Magistrate Sunil Scarce ruled that there was sufficient evidence for Richards to stand trial at the Demerara Criminal Assizes.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Shalimar Ali-Hack, S.C., had earlier recommended that Richards be charged with the capital offence of murder in relation to Mars’ death.
Richards, who is from the John Fernandes Squatting Area in Georgetown, first appeared before the Diamond/Grove Magistrates’ Courts on May 12, 2023.
According to police, the fatal incident occurred at around 10:30 p.m. at Providence, where Mars and Richards were inside Mars’ grey Mitsubishi RVR, bearing registration number PZZ 6438.
Investigators said the two men had a misunderstanding which escalated, and both reportedly armed themselves with knives. Both men sustained injuries during the confrontation.
Police said Mars attempted to escape from the vehicle, but the car was reversed, hitting him and pinning him against a concrete fence.
His body was later found trapped between the vehicle and the fence.
Richards reportedly fled the scene on foot in a southern direction. He was arrested two days later at his workplace in Georgetown.
Investigators had relied on surveillance footage which reportedly showed Richards and Mars leaving a bar together shortly before the fatal encounter.
A post-mortem examination found that Mars suffered eight stab wounds to several parts of his body, including his chest, collarbone, shoulder, elbow and hand.
The official cause of death was given as crushing injuries to the chest, together with multiple sharp-force injuries.
Richards’ guilty plea means the case will now move directly to sentencing before the High Court.
