‘Remy’ Ramsaran released to parole, moved to Chenango County custody
Ganesh ‘Remy’ Ramsaran was released from a maximum security prison in New York on Jan. 31, 2023 after being granted parole. On Oct. 22, the murder conviction in connection with his wife’s death was vacated. He’s now in custody at the Chenango County Correctional Facility.
The quick back story
Jennifer Ramsaran was reported missing by Remy in December 2012 after he said she did not return from a Christmas shopping trip in Syracuse. Remy took to social media, traditional media, and organized search parties in an attempt to locate Jennifer. Her body was found in the woods, unclothed, in Feb. 2013 by the father of a Chenango County Sheriff’s deputy.
Jennifer’s phone was located by Remy. Her van was found by her father in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Norwich.
Jennifer’s cause of death, though, was not changed to ‘homicide’ until after Remy was arrested.
In May 2013, Remy was charged with Jennifer’s murder.
Lt. Richard Cobb, lead investigator, said the sheets of paper in a folder he called ‘evidence’ against Remy on the date of his arrest were all blank.
He initially posted bail, then was remanded back to the Chenango County Correctional Facility following his felony arraignment.
Remy was represented by a few different lawyers throughout his open case, but ultimately Gilberto Garcia of New Jersey was his lawyer for trial.
The murder trial
Remy was facing life in prison for the murder of Jennifer. He did not know his attorney had never represented a client in a jury trial in his entire career.
The trial began in fall of 2014, and Garcia said before the jury was selected the defense had no witness list, and he was unsure if he would call his client to the stand. Ultimately, Remy did take the stand, but said Garcia did not provide any preparation for the testimony.
District Attorney at the time Joseph McBride told jurors Ramsaran was “obsessed” with his mistress, Jennifer’s best friend, adding the case dealt with sex, divorce, money and deception.
Remy did admit to a continued affair, and said Jennifer knew about it as well, adding that talks of divorce after the holidays were on the table.
Jennifer stayed at home to care for the children while Remy worked for IBM.
“I had the perfect life. I had a wife, beautiful children, a girlfriend and a great job,” said Remy when he took the stand, adamant he did not kill his wife.
McBride said Remy murdered Jennifer in their home early in the morning on Dec. 11, 2012, covered up the crime, dumped her body in Pharsalia, placed her iPhone on Moon Hill Road in Plymouth, dropped her van at Plank Road Manner Apartments in Norwich, and then ran to the Norwich Family YMCA.
Police found several bloodstains throughout their household, including on the walls, a rug and on bed sheets. The bloodstain test results showed the blood belonged to the Ramsaran children, and only one bloodstain was linked to Jennifer.
Garcia did not call any witnesses for the defense aside from the defendant. Initially, Garcia was not going to have his client testify, but Remy said he was not aware Garcia was calling zero witness. The jury found Remy guilty in about three hours.
Appeal, appeal, appeal
Following his murder conviction, where he was sentenced to 25 years to life, and subsequent conviction of the class C felony of bribery — which carried its own sentence of 5 to 15 years — he appealed his murder conviction various times.
In 2016, the state Appellate Division’s Third Department cited legal errors in the trial, including ineffective assistance of defense counsel and ordered a new trial.
The reasons in the court decision to reverse the conviction was a failure by Garcia to object to the prosecution’s “inaccurate and misleading” description of DNA evidence and testimony during closing arguments.
The prosecution had mischaracterized testimony by its forensics expert regarding DNA and a bloodstain on Remy’s sweatshirt the day Jennifer disappeared, according to the appeals court.
But then, about a year later, the Court of Appeals ruled Remy was not deprived of effective legal assistance, and the case was sent back to the mid-level appeals court in Albany, which determined there were no remaining issues tied to the case and it did not merit a new trial.
In 2022, murder conviction vacated
Remy’s Syracuse-based attorneys, David J. Hammond and Melissa K. Swartz, said Garcia’s lack of experience violated their client’s rights to effective counsel and information from forensic experts not mentioned in the original trial are key to his defense, according to the motion filed in 2019.
It was argued that Garcia misled both Remy and his father into believing he was hiring experts that would take the stand and that he’d won many trials. After Garcia received more than $125,000 from the family for legal services, Garcia admitted he’d lied about his experience.
Chenango County Judge Frank B. Revoir Jr. ruled in October 2022 a new trial be ordered for Remy, thereby vacating the conviction of murder in the second degree.
That being said, once Remy served his time for the bribery charge, with the murder conviction vacated and a new trial impending, he was eligible for parole, which was granted in January 2023.
New trial to come, in Chenango County custody
More details surrounding Remy’s new trial will be made available as soon as possible. Per the New York State Unified Court System, as of Jan. 31, 2023 there was no information regarding a new trial date.
Chenango County District Attorney Michael Ferrarese and Hammond, Remy’s attorney, were contacted but as of time of publication, neither has responded to a request for comment.
