HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A man serving life in prison for a 2016 rape and home invasion was denied a request for a reduced sentence.
On Monday, Superior Court of Guam Judge Dana Gutierrez determined Marko Omwere will not have his life sentence reduced on the grounds his request was filed after the deadline mandated by Guam law.
In December 2016, Omwere was arrested and charged for allegedly raping a single mother during a home invasion of her Agana Heights home. Omwere was accused at the time of being armed with a knife.
At Omwere’s trial in April 2017, he was found guilty of multiple counts of home invasion, kidnapping and rape, all with special allegations of use of a deadly weapon, and would later be sentenced to life in prison, according to Post files.
Omwere subsequently appealed his conviction and sentence and, despite the conviction and sentence being affirmed by the Supreme Court of Guam, hearings were held in September 2022 to determine whether charges could be dismissed due to the trial judge.
The charges eventually were dismissed and led Omwere’s attorney to file a reduction of sentence motion, which Guam law mandates be done “within 120 days” of the judgment being issued. Omwere’s argument for the reduction of sentence to be considered stems from the filing being within the deadline of the amended judgment issued in September 2022.
However, Gutierrez determined the request needed to be done within 120 days after the judgment was affirmed by the Supreme Court on Oct. 29, 2019. Omwere filed his motion for reduction of sentence almost three years later on Dec. 27, 2022, Gutierrez’s order states.
Incident
On Dec. 7, 2016, Omwere, who was homeless at the time, allegedly broke into an apartment at Casa De Flores between 8:30 and 10 p.m. where a woman reported she was awakened from her sleep by something tugging on her nightgown.
According to court documents, a man covered in dark clothing was cutting the victim’s nightgown open with a knife and ordered her to shut up when she woke up. The suspect proceeded to rape the victim and afterward demanded money and jewelry.
Police officials said at the time that the suspect forced the victim, at knifepoint, to use her car to drive him to different areas before having her drop him off in Hågatña around 6 a.m. the following day. Police officers later found Omwere had stolen surveillance equipment from another apartment at Casa De Flores.
Marko Omwere appears in court for sentencing on July 24, 2017. Omwere recently asked the court for a reduced sentence, which was denied.
