March 28, 2009
Crime Chief: Drug link seen in Pomeroon murders
Another man in custody
Clint De Agrella Romeo De Agrella
As police intensify their investigations into the brutal murder of two Pomeroon men, ranks have identified a man who may have information linked to drug trafficking which could see a breakthrough in the case.
Crime Chief Seelall Persaud said yesterday that the man who hails from the Pomeroon area is in police custody and may know what happened, adding that the information he has is related to drug trafficking. The decomposing remains of Romeo De Agrella, 41, and his son, Clint De Agrella, 20 of Grant Strong, Hope, Lower Pomeroon River were found on Monday afternoon, days after they failed to return home.
A post-mortem examination revealed that they died from multiple gunshot wounds.
In a surprise twist, Persaud informed Stabroek News when contacted that the information provided by the dead men’s wife and mother respectively, to the police in relation to the fish business they were involved in, has not been substantiated.
The woman had told the police that the two men would make regular trips to Venezuela where they sold salted fish. They would then return with another type of fish – hassar, which they would export to other countries.
Following investigations it was revealed that the woman had not been accurate about who the men conducted business with. Asked about the fish trade, Persaud said that it is a business that has been in existence for sometime but he said cryptically that persons do not return to Guyana with hassar alone.
He added that the dead men’s backgrounds were checked and it has been confirmed that they were related to two of the men who were discovered dead in Suriname in 2007. That incident has also been linked to drugs.
In December 2007, the bodies of three men Paul Da Silva, Rudolph Da Silva and Junior Gomez were found in Suriname after they had left for a trip to Venezuela, where they had operated a passenger boat service earlier that month.
Rudolph Da Silva was Romeo’s nephew. No one was ever charged and the killers were never identified. According to a police release, investigations have revealed that the victims had left Venezuela to return to Guyana last Friday and after not returning as expected they were reported as missing to the police on March 22. The release said their bodies were found on Monday with gunshot wounds while their boat which bore bullet holes was recovered, minus the outboard motor engine.
The boat was found by the occupants of a passing passenger vessel, overturned in the Waini River. It was subsequently pulled ashore. The men had made contact with their relatives last Friday saying that they were on their way home but when they failed to arrive their family became worried.
De Agrella’s wife, Juliet had told Stabroek News that on Saturday she received a call from someone in Venezuela asking if he had arrived home and she questioned whether he had indeed left. She had strongly criticized a report in the Guyana Times which said that drug links to the killing were not ruled out. “That is wrong”, she said.
The decomposing bodies of the two were discovered three miles apart in an area called Iron Punt in the North West District. Juliet and a relative, Ryan Gonsalves were arrested but later released after being questioned. Gonsalves was fingerprinted and released late Wednesday.
Relatives were upset that he had been described as a suspect in newspaper reports and also that he had been detained. “I believe that the police should search for the people them (the killers) instead of holding the wrong person in custody”, said Judith adding though that the Morawhanna police were very helpful.
The woman said that her husband was a quiet person and she knew of no trouble that he had with anyone and he “lived good” with the neighbours. She said that her son was very friendly. “I don’t know why the people had to do dem that”, she said. Father and son were buried on Tuesday afternoon at the Charity Cemetery.
Judith said that she saw the bodies but couldn’t make out too much because of their state. She said that she did see a wound on her son’s leg but his face and other areas of his body were “mashed up” and she couldn’t tell much about them. She said that she was told by the doctor that the bullets damaged her husband’s spine and head and her son suffered multiple gunshot wounds. (Staff/Stabroek News)
March 26, 2009
Deadly shoot-out
Gunman cut down, three cops wounded at entertainer's home
Police officers stand outside the home of reggae entertainer Jephter McLymont, also called Luciano, after cops cornered and shot dead a wanted man inside the premises.
Three policemen were yesterday shot and injured and a gunman shot dead in a dramatic early morning gunfight at a house owned by reggae singer Luciano at Westminister Crescent in Kingston.
The incident, which started about 5:00 am, ended shortly after 7:00 am when police broke down a door to the entertainer's house and cut down the gunman, later identified as Andrew Senior, who taunted and dared the cops to come in after him.
One of the injured lawmen, who was shot in the mouth, was rushed into surgery and was last night listed in stable condition, while two others were nursing gunshot wounds to the leg and groin, police said. The gunman was able to monitor the movement of the police on surveillance cameras installed at the house, Observer sources said.
Senior, 37, who was on the St Andrew North police most wanted list for at least six murders, was armed with a handgun when he took on the police in the shoot-out which could be described as a scene from a wild west movie.
The heavy sounds of gunshots drove fear into residents of the middle-income community and forced motorists rushing to take children to school early to divert. One parent said her three-year-old daughter who attends a nearby pre-school was traumatised. Luciano, whose real name is Jephter McLymont, was not at the house during the incident but was arrested and interrogated after he turned up at the residence during the gunfight.
The police were also questioning another man who was in a separate house on the premises during the shoot-out. "He (Luciano) has been taken into custody; he is being questioned at the Half-Way-Tree Police Station. He could face charges of harbouring a fugitive at the bare minimum," head of the St Andrew North Police Division, Superintendent Anthony Morris told reporters at the crime scene yesterday.
Police officers process a house owned by reggae entertainer Jephter McLymont, popularly known as Luciano, following a stand-off between them and a wanted man there yesterday.
The police said they went to the house in search of Senior but were met with a volley of shots.
One of the cops was injured when he attempted to peer through a window and was surprised by the gunman who shot him in the face. The other two officers were shot as they attempted to flush the gunman from the house.
Another policeman on the crime scene said Senior taunted the officers as their colleagues lay bleeding. "Him say 'unnuh come in because me have enough bullet for all of unnuh'," the cop told the Observer. The police were handicapped because of the presence of the entertainer's spouse and children inside the house. Senior eventually let the woman and children out before barricading himself inside a room. But the cops did not relent and kept up the pressure until Senior was cornered inside the house and cut down.
Security Minister Colonel Trevor MacMillan, while expressing his regret that the three cops were injured, was yesterday full of praise for what he described as the cops' "courageous and brave attitude in the face of fierce opposition". In a statement yesterday, MacMillan also said that the state would not back down from the criminals who were intent on terrorising the society.
The police said they took a 9mm pistol from the dead gunman's body but were unable to confirm after a thorough search of the premises, if the pistol was the only weapon used by Senior during yesterday's incident. Yesterday's stand-off left several of Luciano's neighbours shivering in fear. Even a lone dog nearby trembled uncontrollably.
"Normally you couldn't even come to the gate with him inside here but is like the gunshot them just get to him," said the dog's owner, who also said he himself was traumatised after he was jolted awake by the explosions. Another neighbour said that his young daughter was terribly shaken by the incident.
"When the shot them start fire about 5 o'clock, my little girl immediately say that she want to go school, to show you how fearful she was. The little girl even start ask how gunshot a fire outside and we move out of Cockburn Pen," said the man, in reference to a volatile inner-city community in Kingston, the Jamaican capital.
The incident caused several residents to be restricted from leaving their homes by the police. One man, whom residents said was of unsound mind, was beaten by cops after he crossed the police yellow tape despite being warned by two female officers. (Corey Robinson, Observer staff reporter robinsonc@jamaicaobserver.com/photos: Lionel Rookwood)
Seven murdered in 15 hours
Jamaica - Gunmen went on a murder spree in the Corporate Area and St Catherine on Tuesday, killing seven persons in an almost 15-hour span. Five of the murders, including two double killings, occurred in the St Andrew North Police Division, pushing the murder tally in that area to 27 since the start of the year. Police were initially only able to identify four of the dead.
They are: Petrojam accountant Andre Jenniere, 45, and his wife, 39-year-old Carolyn - a lecturer at the University of Technology (UTech) School of Nursing; 63-year-old wholesale operator Elsie Armstrong; and gas station operator Sylvan McPherson, 38;
Among the dead was a security guard who the police alleged was the brother of dancehall artiste Desmond Ballentine, more popularly known as ‘Ninjaman’. In the first incident, which occurred at about 3 am, gunmen forced open a window to the Jennieres’ home on Cypress Drive in Red Hills, St Andrew and sprayed them with bullets.
Police said that their blooded corpses were discovered shortly before dawn by their nine-year-old daughter, who, along with her younger brother, slept through their parents’ murder in a separate room. Frightened neighbours, relatives and co-workers who gathered outside the Jennieres’ home questioned the killers’ motives.
“Why would someone want to hurt Carolyn. Carolyn would never hurt a fly,” said a grieving Dr Sarafadeen Adebayo, head of the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences at UTech. “She does not deserve this… Government will have to do something about this [crime] problem ‘cause when you have professionals who are supposed to help in the development of the country being murdered, it spells destruction for our future.”
In the Armstrong murder, police said that they were puzzled as to how her attackers gained access to her apartment at the newly-opened Isles of Grosvenor housing scheme on Grosvenor Terrace, also in St Andrew, and murdered her as well as the security guard. Both were found with stab wounds in separate apartments at about 6:00 am, police said.
While the cops were processing that scene about 3 pm, gunshots rang out at the Total gas station near the foot of Red Hills. On their arrival at the scene, police found McPherson’s bullet-riddled body. The police were told that men on a motorcycle drove up and shot McPherson. He died on the spot.
In the St Catherine North Police Division, police are probing the murders of two unidentified men whose bodies were found with gunshot wounds to the back of their heads in bushes at Featherbed Lane in Spanish Town early Tuesday morning. (Stabroek Staff/Jamaica Observer)
March 25, 2009
Guyanese teen (17) shot dead in Cayenne
Identified as ‘Beenie’
A Guyanese youth was shot dead in front of a Creole restaurant in Cayenne, French Guiana on Saturday in an apparent revenge killing. Three men are said to be in police custody. Sources in the neighbouring territory say that investigators are reluctant to divulge the man’s identity or information surrounding his death. They have, however, said that the persons involved in the incident are known to them.
The dead lad, who is about 17 years old, is known as ‘Beenie’ and resides in Georgetown. From reports, the deceased is an illegal immigrant in the country and resided in a squatting settlement. Stabroek News was told that four Guyanese men confronted the teen in front of the restaurant located on Avenue Voltaire between 9pm and 10pm, shooting him three times. They then fled the area, leaving the bleeding man lying on the roadway. He subsequently died.
Three men, who police say were accomplices to the murder, are said to be in police custody though the shooter is still at large. One of the suspects is an 18-year-old Guyanese miner, who was a friend of the murdered teen. He has reportedly explained to the police that it was a revenge killing after a recent fight over a woman.
Persons in the area where the incident occurred recalled hearing several gunshots. 'Beenie’ is the third Guyanese to be gunned down in French Guiana in the last five months under questionable circumstances. On November 22, Joseph `Obrien’ Mc Aulay was shot dead in a small town called Matoury. Mc Aulay was the victim of a drive-by shooting and he died at the Cayenne Hospital from a gunshot wound to the chest. A pillion rider who was with Mc Aulay at the time ran away but he subsequently went to the police and a statement was given.
The incident apparently stemmed from an earlier incident during which Mc Aulay was punched. Two suspects were later held but it is unclear if charges were laid. The man’s relatives, including his mother Jocelyn Daley, had told this newspaper that he died innocently and that he was merely trying to make peace after a fight broke out. It was one of Mc Aulay’s friends in Guyana who telephoned his mother shortly after he had been shot. The dead man had left Guyana six years earlier for French Guiana seeking a better life.
Weeks earlier, 24-year-old Troy James was killed and police were convinced that it was his older brother who had committed the act. This newspaper had been told that the two had a falling out that sparked the fatal shooting. It is believed that the suspect returned to Guyana though Suriname shortly after the incident. To date he has not been apprehended.
Press officer Lieutenant-Colonel Laperle from the Central Gendarmerie had told Stabroek News’ source that James was killed in Remire-Montjoly, a town in the suburb of Cayenne. The officer added that the killing took place less than ten metres from a soccer field, where young players of a local team-–USL Montjoly–-were training. The coach, former international French goalkeeper Bernard Lama, was leading the training sessions and he was the one who contacted the police.
His mother, James’ mother, Rose Ann Garraway, called ‘Rosie,’ told members of the media that she warned the man repeatedly about going to the country. The man’s relatives had said that they were clueless as to what might have sparked the tragedy. (Zoisa Fraser/Stabroek News)
Man in custody over murder of Pomeroon duo
One man has been taken into custody as police continue an investigation into the discovery of the bullet-riddled bodies of two men on Monday in the Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of Iron Punt, North West District (NWD). The decomposing bodies of businessman Romeo De Agrella, 41, and his son Clint De Agrella, 20, of Grant Strong Hope, Lower Pomeroon River, were found on Monday afternoon.
A post-mortem was performed on the bodies yesterday by government pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh and it was found that both men died from multiple gunshot wounds. They were laid to rest yesterday afternoon.
When contacted, relatives declined to comment on the gruesome killings, stating that they were in a state of mourning. Reports are that the elder De Agrella is a well-known businessman in the area and residents expressed shock at his sudden and brutal demise. Stabroek News understands that the man in custody has been giving the police conflicting reports on what he knew of the men.
According to a press statement from the police, investigations revealed that the victims had left Venezuela to return to Guyana last Friday and after not returning as expected they were reported as missing to the police on March 22, 2009. The release said their bodies were found on Monday with gunshot wounds while their boat which bore bullet holes was recovered, minus the outboard motor engine.
Reports had indicated that the men had contacted their relatives on Friday and stated that they were on their way home but when they failed to arrive their family became worried. They formed a search party and went looking for the men and with the help of some persons who said they had seen an empty boat the bodies were discovered.
The relatives returned for the police and Sunday and with the lawmen journeyed once again to the area where the bodies were found and they were brought out to the Suddie Hospital late Monday afternoon. Speaking with Stabroek News, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud yesterday said the wife and mother of the victim reported that the two men would make regular trips to Venezuela where they sold salted fish. They would then return with another type of fish, which they would export to other countries.
Persaud said the men had left Guyana two weeks ago. According to him, the bodies were found some distance from each other, while their boat was discovered partly submerged close to the Wiani River. A fisherman pulled it to shore. What appeared to be shrapnel was discovered in the boat. Asked if the area where the men were found was prone to pirate attacks, Persaud said the police had not received reports of pirate attacks in that area for quite some time. (Stabroek staff)
March 21, 2009
Man shot in head was taxi driver
Hijacked car found on Princes St
Keith Bowen
The man who was fatally shot in the head on Sussex Street on Thursday night, was yesterday identified as Keith Bowen, a 30-year-old Vigilance, East Coast Demerara resident and Sheriff Taxi Service driver.
His dark grey car bearing number plate HB 264 was found abandoned on Princes Street in the vicinity of Lombard Street around 7:30 yesterday morning. There were bloodstains on the driver’s seat and on the inside of one of the doors.
Though the incident has the appearance of a carjacking that had gone horribly wrong, many close to Bowen called `Keitho’ questioned why he would have been shot in the head, if the killer(s) were only after his car.
The circumstances surrounding the shooting are still unclear. Residents of the area had told Stabroek News on Thursday night that they saw a white car leaving the area where the man was found, seconds after a gunshot was heard.
That night, the man was listed as unidentified but following the discovery of his vehicle, workmates and relatives positively identified him at the Georgetown Hospital mortuary. It was around 8 pm, that a car stopped briefly on the dark road near the entrance to the `Island’ at West La Penitence. An explosion rang out shortly after and the vehicle then drove off.
An elderly woman subsequently found Bowen, lying just off the road, bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound to the right side of his head. The woman alerted other residents and police were summoned to the area. The patrol vehicle that turned up rushed the still breathing man to the Georgetown Hospital. However, he succumbed while undergoing treatment in the emergency room of the medical institution. Police in a release yesterday said that they are investigating the murder.
Hours
Owner of the Sheriff Taxi Service Gregory Toovey told Stabroek News yesterday that Bowen, who had been in his employ since January 23, made his last drop at 8.30 am on Thursday. He said the man had complained that his car was overheating. That was the last contact the service had with him.
Toovey further explained that most of the drivers are on contract and as such they did not have regular hours. Bowen was one such driver and when they did not see him back at the Sheriff Street base where he was attached, no concern was expressed.
The businessman stated that around 7:30 am yesterday the dispatcher told him that Car 13 (which Bowen drove) was found on Princes Street abandoned. He said when he arrived on the scene the vehicle was there and he noticed bloodstains on the top of the driver’s seat and the inside of one of the doors.
No one knows where Bowen was between 8:30 am when he last contacted the base and 8 pm when he was shot. The man did not pick up his eight-year-old son from a city school on Thursday. The child told teachers yesterday that when he called his father’s cellular phone he got no answer, so he spent the night at the home of one of his father’s friends. The child lived with Bowen and a cousin. No one in First Street, Vigilance where Bowen lived recalled seeing him on Thursday.
Distraught
In his home community tears flowed openly and loud sobbing filled the air. Residents said they were told of the incident but did not believe it was true. One of the man’s neighbours said that when she did not see him she assumed that he had been hired for a ‘special’. However, she said, later in the day she was told that he had been killed the night before but didn’t think too much of it. She said she last saw him on Monday and he was in his usual high spirits.
Bowen’s cousin Michael Bowen, with whom he lived was at work in the city when he received the devastating news. When he arrived home, the man was in tears. He told reporters that he last saw Bowen on Thursday morning before he left for work.
“He tell me have a good day but when I come home in the afternoon, I find he keys on the step,” the grieving man said adding that he hid the keys and went out, assuming that Bowen would call him later. He said that the man never called and when he got home, neither Bowen nor his son, was there. Michael recalled that late Thursday night a female friend of Bowen called him asking about his (Bowen’s) whereabouts, because she wasn’t getting through to his phone.
The man said that though he missed Bowen for the entire day, he did not think much of it as he would sometimes work overtime and his son would stay at a friend in the village. He said that yesterday he was at work when Bowen’s brother called him to say that a taxi driver had been found dead, but he wasn’t sure who it was. The brother later called with the tragic news after identifying the body.
Michael stated that Bowen had been a taxi driver for years and never had any problems. The two had been living at the Vigilance address for years and were like brothers, he added. Bowen also leaves behind brothers and sisters.
Concern
Toovey yesterday ex-pressed concerns about the increase in carjackings in the city over the last few weeks. He pointed out that he always advises his drivers to keep in contact with the base so that their whereabouts could be known at all times.
A solution to the problem he said could be the GPS tracking systems. However Toovey said that so far the information he has received is that it could work to an extent. He said a system like that would provide an added sense of security for his drivers. Meanwhile, another taxi was carjacked in the Campbellville area on Thursday night.
Crime Chief Seelall Persaud told Stabroek News yesterday that driver Gavin Nero was stopped by two men on D’Urban Street who requested to be taken to William Street, Campbell-ville. On arrival at their destination, one of the men pulled out a gun and ordered Nero out of his vehicle. Nero escaped unhurt while the men drove off. Police are investigating. (Stabroek News)
Judge accepts mitigation plea re 3 manslaughter accused Two brothers jailed for 8 years, cousin on 3-year probation
Two brothers and their cousin who had tied up and beat 45-year old Rameshwar Persaud to death because he was found in their yard one night, with a bottle with gasoline, with which they believed he intended to commit arson, were each spared a term of life imprisonment for manslaughter, yesterday.
Some days ago, the accused Ragib Ali, 28, and his brother Asif Ali, 26, and cousin David Jacobs , 32, had appeared before Justice Winston Patterson and pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.
Ragib Ali was sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment while his brother Asif, who allegedly took a lesser role in the killing, was let off with a 3-year probation sentence. Cousin David Jacobs was also jailed for 8 years.
Before imposing penalty, the judge said that he had taken into account the report on the men from Probation Officer Lloyd George, the plea in mitigation by defence counsel Mr. Hukumchand and lawyers Miss Sonia Paraig and Miss Amino Paraig. The judge, who had originally intended to impose life imprisonment, said that he had also taken into account the fact that the accused had already spent three years in prison awaiting trial.
In narrating the facts of the case, Prosecutor Mrs. Kara Duff-Yehudah said that Rameshwar met his death on the night of the 5th day of February, 2006. On that night, he went to the residence of the three accused persons and was seen in the yard by the No. 1 accused. The No. 1 accused alerted the No. 2 and No. 3 accused.
The No. 2 accused armed himself with a door bar and he and the No. 3 accused then proceeded to the yard. They approached Rameshwar Persaud. The No. 1 and No. 2 accused struck Rameshwar Persaud with the door bar. Rameshwar then tried to leave the yard by jumping over the fence into a trench.
However, the accused persons pursued Rameshwar, took him out of the trench and back into their yard, where they continued to beat him. They tied his hands and feet with hammock slings. It was said that the deceased had been the reputed husband of the mother of two of the accused for about 7 years. They were separated but would amend their differences from time to time. It is said that the deceased used to curse and beat the mother and ill-treat the children.
The Prosecutor went on to say that the mother of the No. 1 and No. 3 accused left the residence at 1295 Diamond Housing Scheme and went to the Providence Police Station to report the matter. The Police arrived and took Rameshwar Persaud to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The doctor who performed the post mortem said that death was due to multiple injuries about the body with a blunt instrument.
Among other things, Probation Officer Lloyd George had said that the three accused seem much attached to Latchmin (the reputed wife of the deceased) with whom they had sympathized, because of the habitual harassment she was encountering from the deceased, despite the intervention of the police.
This occurrence, he said, appeared to have culminated after a much ill-treatment meted out to Latchmin by the deceased who appeared bent on fulfilling his desire to burn her house. The three accused appeared to have had the notion of safeguarding the household from impending threats that were proposed for them.
This is their first court appearance and the period on remand should certainly have some effect on their outlook in the future despite their limited intelligence which may have placed them in such a predicament, the Probation Officer said.
They have expressed remorse for their involvement and the disgrace they have brought on the family who remained by their side. Nevertheless, the frequency with which matters of such a nature present themselves must be of concern to the court and the necessary action should be taken to curb future occurrences, the Probation officer declared.
Strong police intelligence apparatus vital
President Jagdeo stresses
The Guyana Police Force has done well with Commissioner Henry Greene and his leadership team but President Bharrat Jagdeo says it has to rebuild its intelligence apparatus and shift to a new level.
“You have to use all available tools, including intelligence-led policing – there is no if or but about it”, he told Police Officers. He said rebuilding the intelligence apparatus of the country includes the Police Force rebuilding assets and sources on the ground and in many places.
“This is painstaking work and unfortunately we have had a loss of confidence in a period when we could not protect our assets”, he acknowledged at the annual Police Officers conference in Georgetown earlier this week.
But, he noted, that environment no longer exists and his feedback is that there is now greater confidence in law enforcement agencies from people on the ground. “…we must use this period to make sure that we have a strong intelligence apparatus”, he said, adding that there’s no secrecy about this.
“…there’s secrecy about the people you have on the ground and who you need to protect at all costs”, he insisted, calling on officers to focus a lot on beefing up police intelligence services in their discussions during the conference.
Mr. Jagdeo said a modern police force has to be flexible in its operations, be guided by intelligence and be able to move and prevent trends from developing that could worsen. “It requires a rethinking to shift to a new level and placing yourselves in a different mode”, he said.
Looking to continuity in the force and the infusion of new blood, the President said he expects at least 50 young cadet officers to be recruited over the next three-four years and stated that they must shift and become acquainted with the new model. He also urged senior police officers to support the infusion of new blood in the force.
Mr. Jagdeo noted that while crime-fighting was the top priority last year for the Police Force and other sections of the Joint Services, the challenges have changed and the focus is now more on crime and violence prevention. He congratulated the officers on successes in fighting crime, and praised the “signal” leadership role of Mr. Greene in the changed environment in the country.
“You have rebuilt the shaky collaboration we had with the Joint Services…because of the strength of that collaboration we can be much more effective in the fight against crime”, he said to Greene. But the global financial and economic crises which have driven hundreds of millions of people around the world into desperation and extreme poverty pose new challenges, he said.
PRIME TARGET GROUP
He reiterated that while the Guyana Government can take some steps to cushion the effects of the global meltdown, it cannot totally insulate Guyanese from the impact of the crisis. He said the top brass of the Police Force has to bear in mind that when people are unemployed and idle they are a prime target group for those who recruit for criminal activities.
He added: “…this is all linked and that’s the reason I am spending time speaking to you about these things because I expect policemen, especially the leadership of the police force, as I said to the soldiers when I addressed them -- I expect you not to just have knowledge about catching criminals and the laws of Guyana and your narrow duties which are important.
“But that you must have a broad enough vision of the world and the national challenges – world and national challenges – so you relate what you do to those challenges because you would have a better understanding of the role you play and also you would be better able to lead the people who are under you.”
He called on officers to keep track of the global financial crisis, how it’s affecting the Guyana economy, what the government is doing to insulate the population from its most serious impact and how they fit into all of this.
The President said he has spoken several times about trade matters and climate change which have “greater potential of creating disruption in our society if we are not careful about the architecture that is being actively formulated at this point in time for global trade, global environmental governance, global financial governance…”
He said Guyana has strong national positions on the financial sector and he expects the officers to also understand what these are. And on fighting drug traffickers, he maintained that Guyana will collaborate with other countries as partners, not as recipients of lectures.
“I hope that in your discussions you will look at this – we will collaborate with any country or group of countries that want to bring global and national criminality to an end. But we are here to protect our interests first and we will collaborate as equals. We are not inferior to anyone”, he declared.
NEW SECURITY ARCHITECTURE
Mr. Jagdeo said this was why he has insisted that the design of the new national security architecture will be fashioned by people here. He stressed that while Guyana can tap into all the studies done in the world and reports by consultants, “at the end of the day we will fashion a security architecture that is suitable to the peculiarities of this country.”
Some studies have already been done and all that’s needed now is a decision by the executive in collaboration with the Police Force. Noting that the government negotiated a US$25 million loan to improve security, he said the government has to get value for its money.
“We are not going to hire consultants because it is a requirement of any bank if it doesn’t add value to our work because we want to make sure that the money goes a long way”, he said. He said that when the work is done, “when we get all the best advice in the world, it’s the people who sit in this room, plus some others who are going to determine what the architecture looks like.”
“Once that’s done by the executive, we will test it with the civil society and then it goes to our parliament so that legislators will have a chance to comment on it, to be part of that process so that it’s an all-inclusive process. This is how I see the evolution of our security architecture”, the President told the conference gathering.
He said his commitment to support the security forces is reflected in the growth in this year’s national budget and pointed to the many pieces of legislation passed in just one year to increase the tools for the police to fight criminals and to maintain law and order in the society. (Guyana Cronicle)
Second girl dies after senna ‘clean out’
The second of two West Bank Demerara sisters who fell ill after being given senna pods by their mother as a laxative on Wednesday has died. Dead is three-year-old Aliya Ramdeen, of G 127 Goed Intent, West Bank Demerara. Hospital officials confirmed that she died at the Intensive Care Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) around 03:00h yesterday.
The older of the two girls – Afeena Ramdeen, five, died at their home after midnight Wednesday after bouts of diarrhoea and vomiting. Her body was discovered on their bedroom floor around 04:00h Thursday morning by their mother Bibi Rafzia, who has since been taken into police custody.
Following the discovery, the surviving sister (now dead) was rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, and later transferred to the GPHC. She was admitted to the Paediatric Ward, but her condition deteriorated further and she was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit where she subsequently died.
The girls’ father, Troy Ramdeen, recalled that on Wednesday their mother, as is customary, gave them each a dose of senna pods which would serve as a ‘clean out’. However, they both suffered extensive diarrhoea, causing her to give them ‘Lomatil’ in an effort to check the diarrhoea, reports say.
But instead of seeing an improvement in the girls’ condition, their father said, the problem seemed to intensify, and they both began vomiting, in addition to the diarrhoeal infection. This newspaper understands that after their mother had tucked them away to bed Wednesday night, she, who by then was exhausted and ‘drained’, fell asleep soon after.
On awakening around 04:00 hrs, she checked on them, only to find the body of her five-year-old Afeena on the floor in her room. Post mortem examinations are to be conducted on the children on Monday. Meanwhile, their mother is still assisting police into their investigations. (Guyana Cronicle)
Minister Rohee challenges Police Force to do better in 2009 Lauds successes of previous year
Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, in his address to the police officers at their annual conference at the Officers Mess, Eve Leary, lauded them for their efforts in combating crime last year; however, he warned that they not become complacent and challenged them to do even better in 2009.
Speaking of the national security threat faced during 2008, posed by rampant criminal gangs, Minister Rohee said that the situation has drastically changed.
“I wish to commend you Mr. Commissioner, your officers and other ranks for staying the course, thus ensuring that the gangs were effectively crushed. I also recognise the support provided to the force by the other members of the Joint Services in particular the Guyana Defence Force, and wish to commend them for their efforts.”
Twenty-three persons, including three police officers and children, were killed by criminal elements during the Lusignan and Bartica massacres which occurred in January and February respectively. Eight miners also lost their lives at a mining camp at Lindo Creek. The police and the Joint Services were eventually able to weed out the leader of the “Rondell Rawlins’ gang and most of the members.
Minister Rohee issued a challenge to the officers, and noted that there is still much to be done. “These positive developments are not an indication that your work is completed. There is much more to be done. We have to ensure that the country does not return to the situation we were in… Any manifestation of such a situation has to be ‘nipped in the bud’. The Guyana Police has to be proactive in its posture and enhance its crime prevention activities,” he reminded the officers.
He also lauded the efforts that were made to reduce road fatalities during 2008 to the lowest levels in many decades, but persisted in his demands that the force could do even better.
“In relation to traffic, there has been a vast improvement of the situation in terms of the number of recorded fatalities. According to available data, this country recorded the lowest number of road deaths in 39 years during the year 2008. We should however not “sit back” and relax. On the contrary, every effort should be made to reduce the number of fatalities further. Every death that occurs on our roads as a result of an accident is one too many.”
The Traffic Department, with the support of the other branches of the Force and the general public, should endeavour to have safer roads as there are still too many acts of indiscipline being committed on the roads, not to mention the destruction of public property such as the traffic signals infrastructure, Minister Rohee noted. (Guyana Cronicle)
March 19, 2009
Opening Officers Conference… President Jagdeo lauds GPF role in crime fight
‘CONTINUE THE GOOD FIGHT’: President Bharrat Jagdeo addresses the opening ceremony of the three day annual Police Officers’ conference at the Officers’ Mess, Eve Leary yesterday.
President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday congratulated Commissioner Henry Greene and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) on their work over the past year and now, as they continue the fight to rid this country of criminal elements.
The Head of State acknowledged that the leadership of Greene and senior officers, other ranks, the ordinary men and women in the GPF as well as the Joint Services contributed significantly to recent change in the local environment.
“Your leadership in that group created a shift in the changed environment in which we live. It is a signal one and you have rebuilt a shaky collaboration we had with the Joint Services,” Mr. Jagdeo told the officers in the presence of special invitees.
He noted that the joint operation of the Police and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the way it integrates is very strong today.
Commissioner of Police Henry Greene addresses the Conference opening yesterday.
He also remarked on the security measures being put in place to better deal with crime and criminals within the country, announcing that a US$25M loan has been secured to create an improved architecture suitable to the peculiarities of this country.
In his remarks, Greene reflected that 2008 was a very eventful year for the GPF and called it a “watershed year”. He recalled that it started badly with criminal elements but said the GPF and the Joint Services were able to restore some amount of law and order, much of which was spurred by President Jagdeo’s charge at the 2008 Officers’ Conference.
CONFIDENCE
According to Greene, the confidence the Head of State had in their ability to fight the criminal elements in society motivated them to get out there and capture those who committed crimes.
Greene remembered that, during last year, the country went through circumstances that caused an environment of criminal activities with the Rawlins gang, Lusignan and Bartica massacres and later the Lindo Creek carnage. But he said the Joint services managed to arrest most of the criminal elements and bring some amount of stability to the country.
Remarking on the apprehending of the notorious ‘Fine Man’ and some members of his vicious gang, the Commissioner said the GPF is still working on arresting all of those in criminal organisations within the country, pointing to the most recent captive - a member of the ‘Fine Man’ gang, alias ‘Capone’ by Surinamese authorities. Greene said, as a result of the crime fighting by the Joint Services, public trust and confidence has been restored in the GPF.
In keeping with the theme of the conference, ‘Consolidating our gains through reform, training, partnership and effective policing’ and the thrust of the GPF over the years, training is top of its priorities list this year, he said. He said it is presently being conducted and will continue to help ranks deal with criminal elements that seek to create mayhem in the society.
Greene mentioned that provision is being made, under the Citizens Security Programme, for the much needed beefing up of other areas within the GPF, which already has an operational Information Technology Unit and ranks are being trained in the areas of IT, public relations and other relevant areas.
COMPUTERISATION
He revealed, too, that computerisation at station houses has been improved, in accord with Government plans to have a more consolidated approach between the security services, as it relates to intelligence gathering and facilitating more timely access to information, analysis of crimes, strengthening capacity to analyse patterns, incidents and problems, all aimed towards augmenting the ability of the Crime Observatory Unit.
Greene, alluding to the greater collaboration among the GPF, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), said he is pleased with it. He said the GPF objective remains fixed. “Our role is set by the rules of this country and we intend to execute it in our law enforcement functions,” Greene assured. (Delena Isles/Guyana Cronicle/Cullen Bess-Nelson photo)
March 18, 2009
Khan admits conspiracy to traffic 150 kilos of cocaine
Lack of funds may have led to plea, says former lawyer
Shaheed Roger Khan
United States District Court Judge Dora L Irizarry on Monday accepted the guilty plea entered by Guyanese businessman Shaheed Roger Khan for trafficking in 150 kilos of cocaine, witness tampering and gun running, and she has ordered a probation report on him before sentencing.
In a session that lasted twenty minutes in a New York court, Khan also changed his not guilty pleas to charges of witness tampering and knowing possession of firearm by a convicted felon. He had been jointly charged with witness tampering with his former lawyer Robert Simels and his assistant Arianne Irving, both of whom are still to face trial in the matter.
The New York Daily News yesterday quoted Simels’ lawyer Gerald Shargel as saying that the guilty plea by Khan has no impact on his own client’s case. “Simels’ conduct, which can and will be explained at trial, amounted to nothing more than a lawful effort to vigorously defend his client,” Shargel said.
In relation to drug trafficking charges, which included heading a criminal enterprise, Khan only pleaded to count two of the 18 count indictment which is conspiracy to import at least 150 kilogrammes (kilos) of cocaine into the US between January 2001 and June 2006. It means that Khan cut a deal on the 17 other counts he faced in this indictment including the one of heading a criminal enterprise, which carried a mandatory life imprisonment sentence had he been convicted.
However, Judge Irizarry after accepting the plea informed Khan, his attorneys and the prosecution, that while they agreed to a 15-year sentence on all the charges, she would await the probation report and examine the details of all the offences. She would then decide whether in “all good conscience” she could sentence him to 15 years.
The guilty plea by Khan, reputed to be one of the biggest drug lords Guyana has ever seen, has had the streets of Georgetown buzzing, with some rejoicing that he will finally be sentenced and others disagreeing on a jail term as they credit his purported crime fighting activities for saving Guyana from criminals.
‘Best interest’
Meanwhile, attorney Vic Puran, who represented Khan while he was in Guyana, told Stabroek News that it was in his former client’s best interest to plead guilty. Puran, who said he had advised his former client from the inception to look for a plea bargain disclosed that soon after Khan was charged he was in plea negotiations with the prosecution.
But at the end of 2007, he said, they had reached a stalemate as Khan did not like the offer made by the prosecution, which in turn felt he was not giving enough information. He explained that a sentence of 15 years is not “unreasonable,” and added that Khan may serve less time because of the length of time he has been in custody.
While he was not aware that a plea bargain had been reached, Puran said he felt that Khan accepted the plea because of financial difficulties. According to him, Khan was facing serious money problems.
Khan’s lawyer Diarmuid White had indicated to Judge Irizarry that he was finding it difficult to hire another lawyer after Simels’ withdrawal because he had no money. The judge had given Khan a timeframe within which to find a new lawyer. Puran said that while White was still Khan’s lawyer, he was not a trial lawyer but rather a “brilliant academic.
According to Puran, from very early in the case Khan had financial problems and he explained that it is not very easy to pay lawyers in the US. He said that Simels was working for a fraction of what he should have been paid as he just wanted to win the case. Though he refused to discuss the witness tampering charge against Simels, Puran believes that his only fault was his desire for over preparation.
Asked about the state of businesses that Khan reportedly holds in Guyana, Puran said as far as he knew there is none. He said that the housing development company, Dream Works Development Inc, is a company on paper as the houses it built have already been sold to people and Khan collected the money so he now has no say in the housing scheme. Puran also disclosed that persons had moved to the court over monies Khan owed but with him behind bars it is unclear how they expect to collect.
‘So much injustice’
Meanwhile, a law enforcement source who did not want to be named, felt it is a good thing that the case has now come to an end. But the source noted that there was so much injustice meted out to relatives of many persons who purportedly lost their lives at the hands of a group linked to Khan.
The source noted that while justice has been meted out in another jurisdiction, it is sad that in Guyana there is no justice in these cases. “He did not face justice here but it is good that the US saw the need to ensure that justice be served even though the crimes were committed in Guyana,” the source said.
The source opined that Khan is lucky that he faced a judge and left the court while others were not that lucky and never got an opportunity to go to court for the crimes they purportedly committed.
Khan was captured in 2006 when he fled to neighbouring Suriname after local police went after him. He was nabbed during a cocaine bust along with his bodyguards and thrown into jail in that country. He was later arrested in Trinidad while en route to Guyana, and taken to the US where he has been in jail since.
Prior to fleeing to Suriname and in response to police searches of his various properties and a wanted bulletin being issued for him, Khan had placed newspaper advertisements in the Guyana Chronicle and the Kaieteur News stating that he was involved in crime fighting in Guyana and had worked closely with local and US law enforcement officials.
Since being imprisoned, Khan and the prosecution have made some explosive statements about the inner workings of his criminal enterprise and other matters in Guyana. Khan’s former lawyer, Simels, had stated that US government investigators had learnt that Khan received permission from the Guyana government to purchase surveillance equipment capable of intercepting and tracing telephone calls made from landline or cellular phones.
The software is reportedly only sold to governments. Only last week, US officials had indicated that the same equipment, which was originally seized from Khan at Good Hope in 2003, was recovered from Simels’s New York law offices.
‘Criminal enterprise’
Originally Khan faced one count of being in charge of a continuing criminal enterprise where it was alleged that between January 2001 and June 2006, “both dates being approximate and inclusive”, Khan, who is also known ‘Short Man’ or ‘Boss Man’, knowingly and intentionally engaged in a continuing criminal enterprise in concert with five or more other persons.
He reportedly occupied the position of principal administrator, organiser and leader of the continuing criminal enterprise. From this enterprise, the indictment said, Khan obtained, “substantial income and resources. Khan was also charged with:
| * | conspiracy to import at least 150 kilogrammes (kilos) of cocaine into the US between January 2001 and June 2006, for which he pleaded guilty to. |
| * | conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 150 kilos of cocaine between January 2001 and June 2006. |
| * | distribution of and possession with intent to distribute cocaine on or about March 19, 2003. |
| * | distribution of and possession with intent to distribute cocaine on or about March 25, 2003. |
| * | distribution of and possession with intent to distribute cocaine on or about March 28, 2003. |
| * | importation of cocaine into the United States on or about March 3, 2005. |
| * | conspiracy to import five kilos of cocaine between January 2001 and June 2006 |
| * | conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five or more kilos of cocaine on or about and between January 2001 and June 2006. |
| * | international distribution conspiracy between January 2001 and June 2006 involving five or more kilos of cocaine. |
| * | importation of 500 grammes of cocaine on or about March 2005. |
| * | distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 500 grammes of cocaine on or about March 3, 2005 |
| * | Khan was also charged with four counts of importation of five or more kilos of cocaine allegedly committed in December 2003, March 2004, April 2004 and May 2004. |
On January 6, 1992 Khan was convicted in Montgomery County of breaking and entering and theft. While he was on probation for that offence, he was arrested in Burlington, Vermont for receiving and possessing three firearms while being a convicted felon. He was subsequently indicted and was released on bail in November 1993.
He promised to obey all conditions of his release but fled to Guyana in 1994 in order to avoid prosecution and as a result there is an outstanding warrant for him, for violating the conditions of his partial release and an outstanding warrant in Rockville, Maryland for violating the conditions of his probation.
Prior to being arrested, one of Khan’s associates had told this newspaper that the businessman never got involved in actual operations. The associate, who had asked not to be named, said the drug accused used his own bodyguards and a network of armed informants–the ‘Phantom Squad’–made up of mainly ex-convicts and ex-policemen.
Khan had boasted that when US diplomat Stephen Lesniak was kidnapped and taken to Buxton he had met operatives from the American Embassy here on a daily basis and provided them with information and hard evidence that led to the issuance of an arrest warrant for escapee Brown, who was thought to have masterminded the abduction. Brown was later cornered in a house a few days after and shot dead by the police.
Stabroek News was told that Khan employed ex-convicts and policemen, paid them and had them gather intelligence on the whereabouts of the five escapees Browne, Troy Dick, Andrew Douglas, Dale Moore and Mark Fraser. The quintet had made a bloody escape from the Camp Street Prison on February 23, 2002.
Their escape was the catalyst for a wave of crime that the country had never before experienced. During this period some 21 policemen were shot dead and numerous civilians murdered. This period also saw scores of policemen leaving the job, while confidence in the force was at an all-time low. (Staff/Stabroek News)
March 17, 2009
Roger Khan pleads guilty According to local media report
Embattled Guyanese businessman Shaheed Roger Khan appeared in a Brooklyn, New York court house yesterday afternoon where he reportedly entered a guilty plea, while asking the judges in all of his cases to consolidate them all and give him a sentence of 15 years.
According to a media report by veteran Journalist Enrico Woolford on the local Capitol News newscast last evening, this startling development was signaled earlier in the day when the prosecution team dispatched a letter to the Court, indicating the deal. Khan is reported to face 21 counts in three cases over three jurisdictions in the United States.
Woolford reported that in the Court document, the Prosecution agreed to a sentence of principally 5 years imprisonment to resolve all the matters – narcotics, witness-tampering and weapons. However, the prosecution has made it clear that it is left up to the discretion of each of the judges in Khan’s three instant cases, how to deal with the matter of sentencing.
The judge in the witness-tampering case has already passed that one over to be dealt with by the Narcotics Judge Dora L. Irizarry, who reportedly heard the plea yesterday afternoon. According to the Capitol News report, Khan was not expected to be sentenced immediately after he entered yesterday’s guilty plea.
The report said the judge will look at the sentencing guidelines later on, based on the charges and then decide whether he can get more than that to which he and the prosecution agreed. This development means that Khan has been able to negotiate his way out of the mandatory life imprisonment charge, based on the count of continuous criminal enterprise.
If he is given the 15 years he asked for, the now admitted narcotic trafficker could be back in Guyana before 2021. That’s just around his 50th birthday. The plea means that a long and detailed trial has been avoided. Also, the more than 100 names of Guyanese would not have to be brought up at the trial. Khan’s plea agreement also means that his former Attorney Robert Simmels will not be placed in the awkward position of raising matters against Khan. Simmels is on a witness tampering charge.
However, some of the persons who were close to the investigation, feel that Khan may have gotten off lightly while other Guyanese who were couriers in a Guyanese narcotic ring spanning nearly a decade are languishing in jail, the news report added. (Guyana Cronicle)
March 16, 2009
Hescott shot, murder suspect slips police dragnet
Three of the four bullets discharged by police at Laing Avenue yesterday morning pierced the front zinc fence.
Policemen searching for a murder accused were fired at yesterday morning as they were surrounding a Laing Avenue house and a 21-year-old was shot in his right arm after the cops said he opened fire at them.
The murder suspect, Alpha Hudson, managed to escape.
The police in a release said that Ryan Hescott, who has had brushes with the law and has several matters in court, is the man who was shot in the arm.
He is now a patient of the Georgetown Hospital under police guard. An unlicensed .38 Taurus revolver, four rounds and two spent shells were recovered by the police, the statement said.
According to the police “As the ranks approached the house where the wanted man Alpha Hudson was hiding, Ryan Hescott opened fire on the police who returned fire hitting him to his upper right arm and recovering the firearm and ammunition. Alpha Hudson managed to escape”.
Hudson is wanted by the police for the murder of Elson Fullington who was stabbed on June 23, 2005 at Avenue of the Republic during an altercation. Andrew Rodney was also charged in the matter and he has been committed to stand trial at the High Court.
Andrew Rodney...he is to face a High Court trial over the murder of Elson Fullington.
Stabroek News was told a number of policemen pursued Hescott onto Laing Avenue even as he jumped drains and attempted to cross the trench that separates the two streets.
This newspaper was told that the lawmen recovered the gun, which the man allegedly fired at them, from the trench. A muddied Hescott was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was treated.
‘Taking a bath’
At the home of Hescott, Stabroek News was told that not only Ryan was taken into custody but a younger brother who was said to be taking a bath at the time. Relatives were reluctant to speak and would only say they don’t know why the men were arrested as they have done nothing wrong.
The police release made no mention of a second man being arrested.
The younger of the two, according to their mother, who has had a lot to mourn in recent years as four of her sons died by gunfire, was taking a bath to go to church. A male relative of the two said a number of lawmen entered the yard from the back as the front has a high zinc fence and is usually padlocked. Some of the police officers then kicked down the gate while others entered the house asking for someone called ‘Alpha.’ He said that one of the lawmen pulled the younger Hescott out of the bathroom and they proceeded to beat him.
Meantime, Ryan on hearing the commotion reportedly exited the house and attempted to get away but the lawmen were quick behind him and he was eventually captured. The relative said that one of the officers stood on their back stairs and fired a number of shots hitting the zinc fence in the process. Stabroek News observed four bullet holes in the fence while the family recovered four warheads.
‘Alpha’
“When they come in dem start to shout foh some Alpha but Alpha don’t live here and I really don’t know who is Alpha,” Hescott’s mother said when Stabroek News visited shortly after the incident.
“Girl, wah ah guh tell you, there ent much I can tell you right now,” she continued. “I tell them don’t get Alpha coming around here, I warn dem about Alpha,” an older male relative said while this newspaper was present. The family members were more concerned about finding out what condition Ryan was in even as concerned neighbours enquired what had gone wrong. “Dem ent find nothing pun dem boys, dem buys ent have nothing here,” the male relative said.
Reports reaching this newspaper stated that about a month ago a group of men armed with AK 47s were in Laing Avenue looking for Alpha and chased him down the avenue. He ran for his life with the men behind him and jumped into a trench and somehow managed to escape even as the men rapidly fired into the trench. Days after, the man resurfaced and yesterday he again seemed lucky to have escaped the dragnet the police had set for him.
Elson Fullington ....police were seeking Alpha Hudson in connection with his murder
Stabroek News had reported in 2005 that unknown men on a motor cycle stabbed Ellington after the mini bus he was driving at the time jammed a car. The conductor of the bus and neighbour of Ellington, Rudolph Abrams, was also stabbed and was hospitalised. After Ellington’s bus jammed the car there was a heated argument.
The owner of the car reportedly drove off for reinforcements. Later two men rode up on a red motorcycle and one of them pulled Abrams from the bus and dealt him several stab wounds. Fullington attempted to rescue him and he was also stabbed and fell to the ground but his assailant continued to stab him.
Remanded
Last year March, Hescott was one of two men who were remanded to prison by Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton after being indictably charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition. Hescott allegedly had in his possession on February 12, 2008, one .32 revolver and two live .32 rounds of ammunition. At the time his attorney, Adrian Thompson, had told the court that the charges against his client were trumped up. He was subsequently charged along with another man with robbery under arms.
Hescott had appeared before Magistrate Octive-Hamilton and was not required to plead to the indictable charge of allegedly robbing Dennis Rampersaud of a shoulder bag, a quantity of raw gold, three gold rings and gold earrings, a total value of $1,096,500 at Brickdam, Georgetown. In March 2007 Hescott was also charged along with another man with robbing a Belgian diamond dealer of diamonds.
Shortly after that charge in March, Hescott lost one of his brothers to gunshots. Eighteen-year-old Dave Hescott’s bullet riddled body was discovered amidst metal behind the furnace in Le Repentir cemetery. The young man had a gunshot wound and a stab wound to the back of his head and was lying face down when he was found. Dave was the fourth brother of the Hescott family to be killed by gunfire.
In November 2006 two masked gunmen riddled 39-year-old Shawn Hescott, another brother, with bullets as he sat talking with two women on Middle Road, La Penitence, a stone’s throw away from his home. The motive for that shooting is also unknown and so far no one has been arrested in connection with Hescott’s killing.
In 1997, another brother, Adam Hescott, who was 22 at the time, was allegedly shot in the head and chest by a policeman. Hescott had escaped from the Camp Street prison, was re-arrested and was being taken back to prison. Relatives of Hescott and many residents in the area had witnessed the shooting. Another brother died years before in an incident at Linden. (Oluatoyin Alleyne/Stabroek News)
March 13, 2009
Killer confesses to K.N reporter
Still on the run
Dead: Savitrie Arjune
A 54-year-old mini-bus driver stabbed his reputed wife to death at around 06:15 hrs yesterday after lying in wait for her on a deserted Herstelling, East Bank Demerara roadway.
Savitrie Arjune, 34, called ‘Sabi’, who last resided at Lot 382 Herstelling, and had endured a stormy eight-year relationship with the suspect, collapsed and died on Rum Shop Street, Herstelling from stab wounds to the heart and side.
Reports indicate that the suspect, identified as ex-soldier Charles Chapman, called ‘Frenchy’, had carefully plotted the murder, and had parked the minibus on the East Bank Demerara public road along the route the victim regularly used when heading to work in the city.
Arjune, who is survived by two children, was in the vicinity of Rum Shop Road and the East Bank Demerara public road when the suspect, who was hiding near the vehicle with a knife concealed in an umbrella, pounced on her and inflicted the fatal wounds. 
Murder suspect Charles Chapman, called ‘Frenchy’
After she collapsed, Chapman reportedly boarded the vehicle and drove to Peter’s Hall, East Bank Demerara, where he abandoned the vehicle. Although the victim’s desperate screams awakened several Herstelling residents, the only witness to the killing was the bus conductor, Cleveland Welch, who was with Chapman at the time.
Police confirmed that the suspect has since made numerous phone calls to the slain woman’s family, and has indicated that they will suffer a similar fate. At the home, family members spoke of receiving calls from Chapman, threatening that he would have been back last night to shoot up the household. Chapman also spoke via his mobile phone with a Kaieteur News reporter some four hours after killing Arjune.
During the conversation, the suspect alleged that he had killed Arjune because she had been constantly unfaithful to him. He also indicated that he would take his own life rather than “punish in jail”. The two had shared a common-law relationship for eight years, and Arjune’s relatives alleged that she was constantly beaten.
Eventually she moved out three weeks ago and went to live at her mother’s house, which is a stone’s throw from the house in which she and the suspect had lived. The relatives claimed that the suspect had slashed Arjune on her side about a week ago and had repeatedly threatened to kill her. He had also doused Arjune’s mother’s house with gasolene some months ago, threatening to burn it down.
Speaking to Kaieteur News on his cell phone some hours after, Chapman readily admitted to killing his reputed wife, but claimed that he was provoked into the act, and even alleged that he was the abused partner in the eight-year relationship. Asked why he had the knife in his possession if he had intended no harm, the fugitive claimed that he always walked with a ‘blade’, since he is also a former seaman.
According to the suspect, he was in the company of the bus owner early yesterday morning and had parked the bus on the Herstelling public road, since he knew that Arjune would pass at that time on her way to work. He also alleged that he indicated to the owner that he intended to “make her (Arjune) an example”.
The fugitive alleged that he eventually spotted Arjune approaching and emerged from the vehicle with the intention of merely holding her. However, he said that his reputed wife began to scream and he stabbed her. “I try to hold she and she start screaming. When I pull the ‘blade’ he (the owner/conductor) start run. When I give she the juck (stab) I tell he (the conductor) reverse and I gun put she in and carry she to the hospital.”
However, instead of assisting the wounded woman, Chapman said that he “jump in and drive away”. Repeatedly blaming Arjune for his troubles, Chapman told Kaieteur News that he befriended the mother of two about eight years ago when he was a seaman who was making a lot of money. At the time, he was residing in Berbice with his wife and family.
The suspect said that he left his wife and moved into a house with Arjune. Chapman alleged that he splurged large sums of cash on his lover, but claimed that he eventually discovered that she was unfaithful to him, and was also physically and verbally abusive. He alleged that on one occasion she struck him with a piece of wood and fractured one of his hands.
Chapman also claimed that she smashed the windscreen of a minibus that he had bought, and that the vehicle was eventually repossessed after he was unable to make his payments. The suspect claimed that about four years ago they broke up, and he decided to return to his wife’s home.
“Me wife accept me about four years back, (and) I carry me things to Berbice.” However, the fugitive said that he relented after Arjune “begged” him to return to her. According to Chapman, he told his wife that he had landed a job on a ship, but instead rented a house in Herstelling “and put her (Arjune) in it”.
But he alleged that her infidelity continued and he also ran into financial trouble, to the extent that he was unable to pay his rent and his phone was disconnected. He said that three weeks ago Arjune walked out on him and returned to her mother’s house.
Chapman indicated that he had harboured thoughts of killing Arjune and her family prior to yesterday’s tragedy. He also admitted to attempting to burn the property down. According to the suspect, he finally “tripped out” on Wednesday, when he allegedly looked over at the Arjune’s house and saw Savitrie Arjune laughing at him.
“Yesterday, the family laugh at me and I just trip, and I decide to do it,” he claimed. Chapman said that after he had later informed his wife and other relatives that he had killed Arjune, “they said that is me life and I done f— it up. “I will not to go to jail and punish. I ain’t going to jail to sit down three, four years for my case start. I too old fuh that.” (Michael Jordan/Kaieteur News)
Rejected paramour stabs woman to death Eyewitnesses report
A thirty-four-old mother of two was yesterday morning fatally stabbed, allegedly by her estranged paramour.
Savitri Arjune, of Herstelling, East Bank Demerara, had left home, about 06:00 h, for work at a popular fast food outlet in the city.
But, shortly after, a taxi driver, known to the family, arrived at their home and reported that the victim had been seriously wounded and was being conveyed to a hospital, said a sister, Jayshree Arjune.
When this newspaper visited the residence where Savitri lived with her mother, sisters, nieces, nephews and her two children, they were all still in shock over the unexpected death of their loved one.
The surviving sibling said eyewitnesses reported that the rejected lover disembarked a mini-bus he was driving, hid in a nearby Chinese restaurant, then attacked her sister as she approached the main road. They said she suffered stabs to the stomach, one side and in the region of the heart before her assailant went back into his vehicle and drove away from the scene.
Savitri’s mother, Golin, being consoled by one of her daughters. Seated next to her are the deceased 11-year-old son and her 14-year-old daughter; and behind them are other grief-stricken family members.
Police were called and took the wounded woman to seek medical treatment minutes after but she succumbed.
Her sister said the suspect and the victim had been in a relationship for a few years but, although it ended last December, the man would constantly harass her. The couple always had problems and he previously threatened to kill her, Jayshree said.
According to her, the man, who lives a few houses away from them but is not the father of the dead woman’s two children, used to abuse her sister whenever he drank alcohol and throw her clothes on the road. Jayshree said her sister had decided to permanently move back to her family and they never believed the spurned man would carry out his threat.
However, since the deadly stabbing, the man has been calling the house and cellular phones of family members, threatening to burn their house and some armed themselves with pieces of wood, for fear of the man returning. The mother of the deceased was inconsolable and her children, a boy and a girl, 11 and 14 years old, respectively, appeared dazed.
Meanwhile, the Police in a statement on the incident yesterday, said its investigations “revealed that Sabita Arjune was reportedly on her way to work when she was confronted by a man with whom she shared a relationship.”
“The man is alleged to have stabbed her to her chest and escaped in a mini-bus which was later found abandoned in the vicinity of the Demerara Harbour Bridge,” the Police said. Police said the suspect has not been arrested as yet. (Delana Isles/Guyana Cronicle/Adrian Narine photo)
CAPONE’ REMANDED
Latest Lusignan, Bartica massacres accused makes Court appearance
Alleged member of the gang previously headed by slain Rondel ‘Fine Man’ Rawlins, Michael Caesar also known as Deon Cort alias ‘Capone’, 27, of Lot 32 Lyng Street, Charlestown, Georgetown is the latest man to be charged in connection with the Lusignan and Bartica massacres.
The accused appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson-Ogle and was remanded to prison while his cases were transferred to Vigilance Court for March 26 and Bartica Court for April 15.
Of the allegations against him, it is alleged that, on January 26, 2008, at Lusignan, East Coast Demerara, he murdered Clarence, Vidya and Rohan Thomas; Mohandai Gourdat; Gobin and Seegopaul Harrilall; Dhanrajee and Rajpattie Ramsingh; Seecharran Rooplall, Shalim Baksh and Shazam Mohamed.
Other accusations are that, on February 17, 2008, at Bartica, he also unlawfully killed policemen Lance Corporal Zaheer Zakir and Constables Shane Fredericks and Ron Osborne, Edwin Gilkes, Irwin Ferreira, Chunilall Babulall, Dexter Adrian, Ashraf Ally Khan, Errol Thomas, Deonarine Singh, Ronald Gomes, Baldeo Singh and Abdool Yasseen.
Caesar told the Court he is a mason by profession and that he was brought from Suriname. He claimed Police placed a black plastic bag over his head, took his fingerprint, forced him to sign a document and severely beat him but maintained he is not a criminal and does not know of the murders. (Guyana Cronicle/photo: Stabroek News)
Better Hope murder accused ‘Bully Boy’ sentenced to death Jury took approximately six hours to reach murder verdict
Richard Reid alias ‘Bully Boy’ who stabbed to death Michael Rodrigues at a rum shop in Better Hope, East Coast Demerara in 2002, was last evening sentenced to death after a mixed Demerara Assize jury had found him guilty of murder.
The jury, having sought further directions from the judge in relation to murder and manslaughter, had taken five hours and fifty minutes to reach the unanimous murder verdict.
Before passing sentence of death, the judge had enquired from the prisoner whether he had anything to say why the sentence of death should not be passed on him. The accused, with head bowed, told Justice Brassington Reynolds: “I did not kill Michael. I am innocent.”
The Marshal at this stage ordered all in court to stand as the sentence of ‘Death’ was passed on Richard Reid, called ‘Bully Boy”. The judge had, among other things, directed that the prisoner be taken from the Court to a lawful prison and thence to a place of execution where he shall be hanged by the neck until he be dead.
“May the Lord have mercy upon your soul,” the judge told the condemned man. The accused had a conversation with his lawyer, Mr. Compton Richardson before he was taken away. Prosecutor Zamilla Ally had called 11 witnesses for the prosecution.
The case for the prosecution disclosed that the accused and Michael Rodrigues, now deceased, were in a rum shop at Better Hope on September 15, 2002, when following a scuffle between the two men, Rodrigues was fatally stabbed. No one saw the stabbing, but one witness said that before the stabbing, the accused was seen with a ‘black handle knife’ walking closely behind Rodrigues who was moving towards the counter.
The prosecution was relying on circumstantial evidence but later obtained a confession statement from the accused who, at the time, said that he did not intend to kill Rodrigues. At the trial, the accused denied telling the police what were in the content of the confession statement, and his lawyer urged the jury to find that the confession was a fabrication by the police. The jury by their verdict have rejected the story as told by the defence and accepted that of the prosecution.
The trial has so far lasted 10 days and included two voir dires (trials within a trial) which resulted in the judge ruling that a confession statement was part of the certified depositions before the Court and that the alleged confession by the accused was freely and voluntarily made by the accused to the police. (George Barclay/Guyana Cronicle/photo: Stabroek News)
March 11, 2009
53 persons arrested in Sophia raid
Police says persons detained for questioning into murder, armed robbery and simple larceny offences.
The police conducted early morning raids yesterday between ‘A’ and ‘E’ Fields, Sophia, during which a total of 71 houses were searched.
The Police reported that 51 men and 2 women were arrested pending enquiries into various offences including murder, robbery under arms and simple larceny.
A motor cycle, three motor car wheels and two music speakers, which are believed to have been stolen or unlawfully obtained, were also seized by the police.
The Police, in a statement yesterday, also said Michael Caesar called ‘Capone’, 27 years of Lyng Street, Charlestown, for whom a wanted bulletin was issued following the killings at Lusignan, East Coast Demerara has been arrested by the authorities in Suriname and handed over to police ranks on Saturday last.
“He is being questioned in relation to the murders at Lusignan and Bartica as well as the murder of two men during an armed robbery committed at a shop at Agriculture Road, Triumph, ECD, on December 16, 2007,” the Police said.
It said identification parades have been held and Michael Caesar called ‘Capone’ has been positively identified by a witness as being involved in the Bartica killings. He is in police custody and is likely to be charged shortly. (Guyana Cronicle/photo: Kaieteur News)
‘Capone’ linked to Bartica massacre
Police yesterday said that wanted man Michael Caesar called `Capone’ was apprehended by authorities in Suriname and that a witness has linked him to last year’s Bartica massacre.
According to a press release, the 27-year-old Lyng Street, Charlestown man for whom a wanted bulletin had been issued following the Lusignan killings, was held in the neighbouring country and handed over to local ranks last Saturday.
Caesar, the release said is being questioned in relation to the murders at Lusignan and Bartica as well as the murder of two men during an armed robbery committed at a shop at Agriculture Road, Triumph, East Coast Demerara on December 16, 2007.
“Identification parades have been held and Michael Caesar called ‘Capone’ has been positively identified by a witness as being involved in the Bartica killings. He is in police custody and is likely to be charged shortly”, the police added. No further details were provided on the capture.
It was reported in the Kaieteur News on Monday that the wanted man was arrested in Suriname but efforts by this newspaper to get confirmation of this from several senior police officers including Police Commissioner Henry Greene were unsuccessful.
This newspaper subsequently made contact with Crime Chief Seelall Persaud who said “we are not ready to publicize any information on that yet”. Asked if he would at least confirm that the police did have Caesar in their custody, he responded with his earlier statement.
In the Triumph incident five men armed with rifles carried out the attack, killing Fazal Hakim and Rajesh Singh, while robbing Narendra Mukhram, the owner of the beer garden. There have been reports that the now dead Rondell Rawlins was seen at the scene but police have never confirmed this.
In the two massacres which occurred on January 26 and February 17, a total of 23 persons including women and children were killed by heavily armed gunmen. Several men have since been charged. The call name `Capone’ was among four issued by the police shortly after a vehicle was shot up on the Ogle Airstrip Road last July.
In that incident, heavily armed gunmen opened fire on the vehicle as it left the Ogle Aerodrome in what appeared to be an attempted robbery. The driver Michael Jackson was shot in the buttocks and was subsequently hospitalized.
Police later expressed an interest in four men with the call names `Trini’; `Yankee’; `Capone’ and `Sandman’. A senior police officer had told this newspaper that the men were known characters. It is unclear if Caesar is the `Capone’ being referred to. (Staff/Stabroek News)
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Two to testify in Guyana for Roger Khan
Attorneys for Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan, Diarmuid White and John Bergendahl have informed the presiding Judge Dora L. Irizarry of the United States District Court Eastern District of New York that the defence team will be limiting depositions to be taken in Guyana to two witnesses, Elizabeth Persaud and Dion Coates.
According to the document that was filed on Sunday last by the two attorneys, it was following up on a letter dated February 27, 2009, given that counsel here reported that on March 6, 2009, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to file with the High Court of Guyana a certificate that it has no national security or other objection to the letter rogatory, until Khan provides the Ministry with a summary of each witness’s prospective testimony for its review.
“The Ministry had made no such demand previously….Given the Ministry’s position, the High Court has put the matter over until March 16, 2009.” The attorneys posited that because of the imminence of the trial, the time constraints on the parties involved, and Khan’s concern that depositions in Guyana are being rendered impossible as originally intended, he proposes to limit the depositions to two witnesses, Elizabeth Persaud and Dion Coates.
Their prospective testimony is aimed at contradicting the testimony of prosecution witnesses regarding material facts, “could have no colorable affect on national security issues in Guyana and who could be examined and cross-examined in a few hours, at most, since their testimony would be brief and narrowly circumscribed….Counsel proposes that these two depositions be conducted on a single day during the week of March 30, 2009.”
The defence team in the document addressed to Judge Irizarry stated, “the defendant, through counsel in Guyana, is providing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a summary of Persaud’s and Coates’s prospective testimony, in the expectation that the Ministry will file the certificate required by the High Court on or before March 16, 2009.”
This move by Khan’s attorney sparked an immediate response given that the prosecution the following day in a document addressed to Judge Irizarry stated that, “The (US) government has objections and comments to the defendant’s proposal.”
Firstly, the US Government renewed its objection “that the two depositions at issue do not meet the standards of Rule 15 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure….While the Court has previously ruled in its June 2, 2008 Order that these depositions were permissible, it did so in the context of a much larger request involving several more witnesses.
When the Rule 15 motion is narrowed to simply these two impeachment witnesses, the Court’s evaluation may differ, particularly considering the current trial schedule….Furthermore, at this point, the Court may factor into its evaluation that these depositions are untimely.”
The prosecution also pointed out that the (US) government is requesting that the Court order Roger Khan to provide both the Court and the government with a copy of the summary of prospective testimony provided to Guyana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The prosecution also requested that the government should have an opportunity to confirm that the representations made to Guyana about the proposed testimony are the same as those previously made to the Court in the defendant’s Rule 15 motion and during the ex parte conference on April 28, 2008 which the Court relied on in issuing its Order.
The (US) Government also requested that defence counsel provide the government with any other prior statement of each defence witness in the defendant’s possession at least two business days prior to the scheduled deposition in order to avoid any unnecessary delay between the direct and cross examination of the witnesses.
The government also objected to conducting the depositions on March 30, 2009, which is after jury selection has begun. “The government respectfully requests that the depositions be completed before jury selection begins…Furthermore, the government wants to ensure that it has a full opportunity to cross-examine each defence witness.”
US prosecutor Benton Campbell also pointed out in the document that while he has no intention of unnecessarily prolonging the depositions, if defence counsel attempts to cut the government off prematurely during cross-examination in order to conclude both witnesses in one day, the government may be prejudiced.
The prosecution also requested that defence counsel be prepared, if necessary, to conduct the depositions over two consecutive days and finally, either the Court or a magistrate or judge selected by the Court, preside over the depositions via webcam and contemporaneously rule on objections.
The depositions to be presented by Coates and Persaud are in relation to the drug charges in the US and not the witness tampering charges. Persaud is the wife of Devendra Persaud who was slain inside Palm Court on Main Street, Georgetown, in October 2004. (Kaieteur News)
March 10, 2009
Police say still have ‘spy’ machine - Jagdeo
President Bharrat Jagdeo
Although the US government said it seized the surveillance equipment owned by alleged Guyanese drug kingpin Roger Khan after it was shipped to his lawyer’s New York offices, Commissioner of Police Henry Greene is maintaining that local authorities have the equipment in their custody.
President Bharrat Jagdeo made this disclosure yesterday, saying that Greene confirmed it when he asked him about it.
“He [Greene] said we have it in our possession,” Jagdeo told a news conference at the Office of the President. “I asked him and he said that we have the equipment here.”
Khan is imprisoned in the US, where he is awaiting trial for conspiracy to import shipments of cocaine into that country.
But President Jagdeo’s revelation gives credence to a report that there might have been a switch of equipment given to local authorities. Stabroek News was told that surveillance equipment was confiscated from Khan when he was arrested in 2002 and handed over to the government.
It was then passed back to Khan at a later stage, Stabroek News understands, while similar equipment was handed back to the police under the guise that it was what was originally seized. At one time the army had said that it had turned over the equipment to the police but the police later indicated it did not know of its whereabouts.
Reports had indicated that the laptop was capable of intercepting and tracing telephone calls made from a landline or a cellular phone and the software was reportedly only sold to governments. The then Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj had said that the use of the instrument did not breach any of the laws of Guyana.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon later admitted that his government did business with Khan, but denied that he ever signed any document authorising the businessman to import the equipment or colluded with him.
While Luncheon maintained that he had no idea where the equipment was, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee declined any comment on the matter. Asked about the apparent uncertainty within the administration about the whereabouts of the equipment, Jagdeo yesterday said, “People don’t want to speak, but I will speak and he [Greene] said it is here.”
According to court papers seen by Stabroek News, the specialised telephonic equipment allegedly used by Khan was among the items seized from the New York office of his attorney Robert Simels during an investigation. Simels is now facing witness tampering charges in the US.
Questions had been raised as to what had happened to the equipment, which had been discovered in 2002 in a vehicle Khan and others were in by members of the Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) Intelligence Unit. It has since been alleged that Khan used the equipment to improperly wiretap the calls of various high-ranking officials and others within Guyana in order to maintain his operations.
Robert Simels
In an affidavit in support of a search warrant executed on Simels’ office, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officer Cassandra Jackson said the equipment was shipped by the lawyer to his York Avenue, New York office. She said Simels had planned to use conversations recorded on the equipment during Khan’s trial.
Jackson said the information about the equipment was gleaned during recorded conversations between Simels and the US government’s confidential source some months before Simels, his assistant, Arianne Irving, and Khan were hauled before the court on witness tampering charges arising out of Khan’s indictment on conspiracy to import cocaine into the US.
The government’s source informed the DEA that prior to his arrest Khan used a computer while in Guyana to surreptitiously record telephone conversations of individuals. Jackson said she believed the conversations referred to by Simels were captured using Khan’s eavesdropping equipment that was in his possession.
Records maintained by the Department of Homeland Security’s, Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, show that on or about October 11, 2007, prior to the disclosure of the recorded conversations, equipment identified as a ‘Portable Auto Data Processing Machine’ was shipped from Guyana to Simels.
This would mean that it was returned to Khan after he had been acquitted on charges stemming from the 2002 interception. Jackson said the records also indicated that from October 9, 2007 to October 12, 2007, Simels was in Guyana and that during one of the recorded conversations with the source had confirmed he had the equipment.
The US government was subsequently granted permission to seize the equipment and other computers and material from Simels’ office following his arrest and the information is now being sifted through by court-appointed persons.
Last year Simels had said that Khan had received permission from the Guyana government to purchase the equipment from the Spy Shop in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, an allegation the government had denied. (Staff/Stabroek News)
No decision yet on extension for Top Cop - Jagdeo
Henry Green
With less than a month remaining before Police Commissioner Henry Greene reaches retirement age, President Bharrat Jagdeo is not saying whether he will grant him an extension of his term.
Asked about Greene yesterday, Jagdeo said “no decision” as yet and indicated that an announcement would be made at an appropriate time. On December 31 last year, Greene was confirmed as substantive Police Commissioner after serving in an acting capacity for nearly two years.
At the time of the appointment, there had been concerns about Greene’s appointment, in light of both his age as well as allegations made by the United States that he had benefited materially from the drugs trade. It was on this basis in 2006 that the US revoked Greene’s diplomatic visa and a visitor’s visa as well.
However, Greene categorically denied the allegations and he stood by his initial statement on the issue at his confirmation. “I have never been involved in any drug activity with any drug lord and I maintain that position onto this day,” he said. (Staff/Stabroek News)
Bulletin issued over murder of miner at White Water
Neville Melville Wanted: Dougla
Two weeks after he was shot to death as he lay asleep in his camp at White Water Backdam, Konawaruk, Region Eight, police yesterday issued a wanted bulletin for a suspect in the murder of Neville Melville.
The only name given in the bulletin is `Dougla’. No other particulars of the man were revealed. Anyone who may have information that may lead to his arrest is asked to contact the police.
All information will be treated in strict confidence. Melville was shot in the head as he lay sleeping with his reputed wife and five-month-old son, less than 48 hours after he had an argument with the suspect over the operation of a pump
Natasha Sookraj, his reputed wife had told Stabroek News that the whole incident was fuelled by Melville’s refusal to do another `wash down’. This had apparently enraged the suspect, who was an employee. The woman had recounted that Melville, the suspect and another man did a ‘wash down’ on Saturday morning but the process had only yielded an ounce of raw gold.
The other man left for Mahdia and that afternoon, the suspect asked Melville to do another `wash down’ but the man expressed frustration at their progress so far saying “the … engine could park”.
The woman had told this newspaper that she had awoken to the sound of a loud explosion around 3 am and she attempted to wake Melville but to no avail. It was when she saw blood on her hands that she realized that he had been shot. According to her, the suspect who had a haversack on his back was seen running out of the tent. She added that the area was lit by a ‘bush lamp”.
Help was later summoned at Melville’s uncle’s camp located about 20 minutes away and it was subsequently confirmed that he had been shot and was already dead. Meanwhile the police are yet to apprehend the man that stabbed Vanburn Allicock to death on a poultry farm, Sand Hills, Demerara River almost two months ago. This newspaper had been told that the attacker had fled leaving behind an identification card among other items. Police are yet to issue a wanted bulletin for him.
On January 20, Allicock and the attacker were involved in an argument. According to reports Allicock, walked away but was pursued by the attacker who stabbed him in the region of the heart. He was subsequently pronounced dead on arrival at the Diamond Diagnostic Centre. Statements were taken from several witnesses to the incident. (Staff/Stabroek News)
March 6, 2009
Sophia boy dies after shot by fleeing bandit
Warren Scotland
A 15-year-old of Block ‘R’, North Sophia was fatally shot in the left eye during an attempted robbery in the neighbourhood last night.
Warren Scotland sustained a single gunshot to the left eye when two men armed with guns attempted to rob a family in the area shortly before 8 pm.
Scotland, several residents stated, may have recognized the attackers. According to residents, Scotland was an innocent bystander at a gambling table just across the street from a North Sophia shop in which several men were drinking.
“We been in de shop just about to start drinking a quarter high wine,” a man, who was in the shop at the time of the incident, said. “All of a sudden I see two men rush up to this gambling table, they had ah lil confusion and all I hear is bow! bow!”
The man told this newspaper that the gunmen were not wearing masks during the attack. It was a usual sight, the man said, to see the gamblers gathered around that table playing cards at night.
“I think those men came to rob the gamblers of their wagers they had gotten for the night and is when they were escaping they lick off two gunshots and that little boy just got in the way and get shoot,” the man explained.
However, other residents reported that it was not the gamblers but the family that the robbers were targeting. This newspaper understands that Terrence Plummer, who died one week after being shot in the head during a Sherriff Street robbery on February 15, was a relative of the said family who were targeted by the gunmen.
Residents told this newspaper that the family had a relative from the United States (US) staying with them who “flaunted” gold jewellery openly. “Is some cousin fuh de family come in the country,” a woman stated. “Well this man does be string on a lot of gold chain so I think these men been to target that family but because de gamblers been in front de yard they get de heat.”
The gambling table
Another woman, who only identified herself as Marcia, told Stabroek News that the family whom the robbers targeted had been robbed several times before. Marcia explained that the gamblers were encouraged to set up their table at that location by the same family. It was like a defence mechanism for that family, the woman stated, since any robbers intent on attacking them would first have to get past the gambling table before getting into the yard.
Police as they questioned the distressed Shaundell Williams (centre) last night
“Is dem does encourage that gambling table in front dey yard,” Marcia stated. “Some gunman always coming pun dem and so they know that once de gunman coming the gamblers does start scatter and dem does get time to lock up.”
The now deceased Plummer, Marcia said, was a relative of the family and for some reason they were always targeted by attackers. At the time of the robbery, the woman said, the US relative who was wearing several gold chains had been at the gambling table.
It was the US resident who was the target, the woman said. There was a bit of confusion, Marcia recalled, and the gamblers began scattering. It was then one of the attackers aimed, fired two shots and minutes after everyone realized that Scotland was sprawled just behind the gambling table, near a lamp post, bleeding.
“He de still breathing…”
Up to press time last night the police had not issued a release about the incident. When this newspaper arrived at the scene shortly after 8.30 pm ranks were present and investigations were in full swing. Blood stains could be seen on the left side of the road where Scotland’s body had fallen.
Several persons who were present on the scene said that the teen was still breathing after sustaining the wound. According to them, had those around responded in a timely manner the young man could have been saved. “He de still breathing,” one woman recalled. “Imagine he get shoot and they see he de still alive but the people dem heartless dem ain’t take he to de hospital til long after.”
Shaundell Williams, mother of the deceased teen, was still in shock last night. Relatives told this newspaper that Scotland was the woman’s only child.
“Scottie father dead since he was a lil boy and is only he and he mother de deh together,” a relative said. “We na know wa this woman go do now.” Scotland was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) some 20 minutes after he was shot. He was pronounced dead on arrival at GPHC. (Sara Bharrat/Stabroek News)
15-yr-old shot dead at Sophia
A 15-year-old boy was last evening shot dead a short distance away from his home opposite the St. Stanislaus College farm at Bel Air, Greater Georgetown.
A student of North Georgetown Secondary School. Warren was the only child for his mother, Shondell Williams.
The shooting incident took place around 20:00h as Warren was going to a nearby shop to make a purchase for his mother.
Residents at the scene of the incident recalled hearing a single gunshot, and then a voice shouting, “a boy just get shoot in he face.” Neighbours said they rushed to the scene only to find the teen lying on the ground, bleeding. His mother was alerted and on receiving the news, became hysterical.
Residents said it was a case of the lad being “in the wrong place at the wrong time”. According to reports, some young men were gambling at the corner when a man heavily decked in gold jewellery came by and stood looking at them. Soon after, reports say, two men came by and discharged a round in his direction. And the bullet hit the child who passing by at the same time.
Meanwhile, one report says that the men may have been going after an overseas-based Guyanese who arrived in the country a few days ago to attend the funeral of a relative. The police arrived on the scene shortly after the shooting incident, but made no arrests. The body of the slain child was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital under police escort. He was pronounced dead on arrival. (Guyana Cronicle)
March 5, 2009
Rohee hands over more Police motor vehicles 32 motorcycles, five open back pick-ups
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee hands over the symbolic key to Police Commissioner Henry Greene yesterday.
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee yesterday handed over 32 motorcycles and five open back pick-ups to Commissioner of Police Henry Greene.
In remarks on the occasion, at Police Tactical Services Unit (TSU) Drill Square, Eve Leary, Georgetown, he said the motorbikes were acquired at a cost of $13.6M from the Force’s 2007 budgetary allocation.The five double cab vehicles, purchased for $19M, were procured from the 2008 allotment, Mr. Rohee disclosed. Meanwhile, of the $13.6B allocated to the security sector in the 2009 Budget, $5B is for the Police, he announced.
Rohee said $4.6B will go towards current and capital works, inclusive of the rehabilitation of several Police stations which will take $145M; another $100M is to buy more vehicles (land, water and other transport) and a further $227M to procure other types of equipment.
He informed that the provisions are consistent with Government’s commitment to provide the Police with requisite resources, in order that they would be in a position to effectively carry out the lawful responsibilities. Rohee said it is a commitment President Bharrat Jagdeo has made from time to time.
The Minister also expressed the hope that the 2009 vote for the security forces can be utilised sooner than those of the two previous years, noting that the faster the money is spent the sooner Cabinet can be approached for funds to acquire additional equipment for the Police.
He said the Police will also benefit, in 2009 and 2010, from resources being made available under the Citizen’s Security Programme and the Security Reform Action Plan.
“We are very optimistic about the capacity of the Guyana Police Force to respond to requests from members of the public, from persons who use the road and observe the roads being misused by road users,” Rohee said. He encouraged the Police Traffic Department to continue with the ‘zero tolerance’ campaign, which, he observed, has resulted in a very dramatic downturn in road fatalities in the country.
Commissioner Greene, accepting a symbolic key from the Minister, said that the vehicles will go a long way in assisting the Force in its crime fight. “We know the battle, we know the fight, we know the representation that has to be made, so that we can get a fair share of the pie,” he remarked.
Acknowledging the efforts and hard work put into controlling the traffic situation, particularly road fatalities, Greene said the motorcycles will go a long way to help traffic policemen execute their duties. He said the Police expected to be given seven more vehicles soon, also bought from last year’s provision. (Delana Isles/Guyana Cronicle)
March 2, 2009
‘I was treated worse than Guyana’s most notorious criminal’
NA double murder suspect
Chevonne Talbot
Tyrone Talbot
A suspect who was arrested in connection with the Smyth-field, New Amsterdam double murder said he was treated “worse than Guyana’s most notorious criminal” and as though he was already found guilty of the crime
The suspect, Tyrone Talbot, 38, an early-retired sergeant from the US Army maintained his innocence of the crime during an interview with Stabroek News. He said that both the police and a section of the media tried to blame him for the double murder because he was charged with the October 2004 killing of Chevonne Talbot, whom he had dated for one year and was married to for six years.
He was arrested on February 15 last at the home of his adopted mother in connection with the murders of Nekescia Rouse, 25, and Alexis ‘Keisha’ George, 18. The women were discovered dead between 6.30 and 7 am on February 15 with stab wounds to their necks and other parts of their bodies.
George’s body was discovered first in a crouched position under a tree, braced on an old stove in a neighbour’s yard obliquely opposite. A few minutes later the body of Rouse, who was said to be Talbot’s ex-girlfriend was found in the kitchen in a pool of blood.
Talbot said the Kaieteur News reported that he was acquitted of his wife’s murder owing to insufficient evidence. However, he said, he was in fact found innocent of the crime as it was established – through cameras at his workplace − that he was on duty at the time his wife was reportedly strangled.
A neighbour had also testified that Chevonne Talbot was seen taking out garbage after he had left for work. In addition, his “superiors” also attested to the fact that he was indeed at his desk that day. Further, he said that claims in the Kaieteur News by his late wife’s relatives that they were sure that he had murdered his wife and the two women in New Amsterdam because he was “a cold-blooded killer” were libellous. He said he intended to take legal action against the newspaper.
He said his former in-laws’ claims were based on the fact that he and his wife were having marital problems, but alleged that it was because of her infidelity. The couple had been married in July 1998 and after that Talbot spent a few months in Guyana before returning to Germany where he was based. He said she could not join him right away because he had to be sent away.
He said that in January 2001, one month after his wife joined him in Germany he found out she had been unfaithful through an email that was meant for her, and that a coworker − whom he had allowed to visit his home because he was going through a difficult time with his marriage – mistakenly sent to him.
He said he filed for separation in January 2002 but returned home because his mother and a close relative of his wife asked him to reconcile with her. In July of the same year he again filed for separation but went back because of the same reason.
However, he said when problems developed again in October 2002 he requested to live in the barracks and the permission was granted. He said his wife “had a right remain at the house because of the way the law was set up; if there were issues at the house the soldier had to be removed…” He left for Iraq in February 2003 and remained there until December 2003.
He said his contract in Germany would have been up in October 2004 and he knew he would be returning to the US, so a few days before the murder he went back to the house to stay because he had to clear it out and ensure that it was not damaged before handing it back to the military.
He said he was charged with her murder and on May 1, 2007 he was freed of the charges. He said he returned to the army and retired with full honours in November 2008, because of injuries he suffered to his neck, lower back, shoulder and wrist.
Upon retirement, he received two army commendation medals. Prior to that he had also been awarded five army achievement medals, 20 commander coins for various achievements, the National Defense Service ribbon for being on duty during the September 11, 2001 incident, and a medal for the Iraqi Global War on Terrorism among others.
He defended himself against a report in the Kaieteur News attributed to Chevonne’s sister, Shawnette Benjamin that he was found guilty of giving false statements. He said he never went to trial for that charge because he pleaded guilty to it. Because of that, he said he was demoted one rank lower in the army.
Talbot said the newspaper also emphasized that he was “well-trained” and while that was true he was also “trained to restrain” and therefore never once hit his wife. “I would have never seen the light of day if I was abusive to her. They have serious laws against that and I would have lost my job. She used to call [his superior officers] and complain when we had issues. But she never had the cause to say that I had hit her…”
The father of three daughters from separate relationships said he was never in favour of any man hitting a woman and that the last thing he wanted to hear was “my daughters calling me in the middle of the night and telling me that their husbands or boyfriends had hit them.”
Regarding the claims his in-laws made against him in the newspaper, Talbot said he was “sick and tired of them presenting the arguments how they wanted and not presenting the facts.” Further he said, “Even though they tarnished my name I am not angry with them; I would just pray for them because my biological and my adopted parents taught me not to engage in confrontations.” He said all he wanted was to publish his side of the story.
Police treatment
Talbot who was here on holiday from the United States since December 27 was first placed in custody at the New Amsterdam Central Police Station before being detained at Albion and Whim stations. He was he was originally placed on $500,000 station bail but that amount was later reduced to $100,000. He was also ordered to hand over his US passport to the police.
He said although he co-operated fully with the police throughout his incarceration he was surprised at the treatment meted out to him. He said he was placed in handcuffs in the cell until Thursday morning, adding that he was also denied personal hygiene. Because he is asthmatic, he said, he had to be treated at the hospital as soon as he was released.
He said the report in last week’s Sunday Stabroek by his girlfriend Jade supported the fact that he was sick the night before the murder of Rouse and George. He said he visited Jade at her relatives’ home and took her to spend the night with him. He said he was awakened the following morning with the news that Rouse was murdered and was shocked. The man who had broken up with Rouse because she had apparently been involved in other relationships said “she did not deserve to die like that – nobody deserves to die like that.”
He said after he broke up with her he moved on with his life and became involved with Jade. He said the police went to his adopted mother on Thursday and told her he had sent for a change of clothing and she gave them. He said he never sent for the clothing but the police went for it because the US embassy was visiting him the same day.
He learnt that the police had sent samples of blood to test and are awaiting the results but he insisted that they did not take any samples from him. He pointed out that when the police went to his home they picked up a pair of sandals in the yard with two drops of blood on it. He said that the blood was actually from a duck he and his stepfather killed the day before.
He also said that they saw a tinge of blood on the tip of his index finger and that the blood was actually from him “picking my nose.” He said he was taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital and the doctor verified that there was a laceration in his nose.
He said that the two detectives who took him could not get the report because they “did not have ID. They took me to Fort Wellington Hospital around 3 o’clock and the doctor stuck a tissue in my nose and said there was no blood there.”
Talbot, who is now a photographer in the US, said no proper examination was done at Fort Wellington Hospital and he questioned why they did not use an endoscope. They responded that he seemed to have medical knowledge and he said he does.
He pointed out that he “did not come to Guyana to do anything negative” and was in fact engaged in the sponsorship of a cricket tournament with the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sport Club. He said his reasons for becoming involved in the sport was because he noticed that young people lacked moral and social values and that was his way of trying to help. Talbot, who was certified in cosmetology before becoming a soldier, is the holder of a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration and Political Science. (Shabna Ullah/Stabroek News)
Man stabbed to death in wedding house brawl
Three suspects are in custody following an early morning wedding house brawl yesterday at Middle Road, La Grange, West Bank Demerara. Dead is Anil Persaud, 30, of 63 Bella Dam, Kalonie, West Bank Demerara.
Persaudxs wife Rubena, 29, told the Guyana Chronicle that they were at her nieces wedding when she heard that her husband was stabbed during a fight where he was the peacemaker. She said that she was at the back chatting and by the time she reached the horse-cart operator he was bleeding profusely from two wounds at the right side of his chest and crying out for pain.
The grieving woman added that a friend conveyed Persaud to the West Demerara Regional Hospital and he was referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he underwent a surgical operation. But Persaud died just after midday.
The woman pointed out that she did not witness the stabbing but was told that a fight took place and her husband was trying to make peace with a group of men when he was stabbed. Rubena Persaud, who is left with three children, age eight, six and four, recalled that her husband was a quiet person who was well liked in the community and his death came as a total shock.
She was told that her husband sustained two stabs wounds which punctured his lungs and damaged his liver and kidney. When the Guyana Chronicle visited the manxs home, a group of men, including relatives, were busy erecting a tent for the wake. Relatives were crying openly as they worked.
Meanwhile, Police said that at about 00:30h yesterday morning at a wedding house at Independence Street, La Grange, West Bank Demerara, Anil Persaud became involved in an argument with a group of men over who could dance better.
Police reported that the argument developed into an altercation during which Anil Persaud was stabbed. Two other men received injuries and have been admitted patients at the GPH, Police said. (Michel Outridge/Guyana Cronicle)
March 1, 2009
Three held in D’Urban Backlands robbery/murder
Three men are in police custody in connection with Thursday’s murder/robbery at D’Urban Backlands in which a 76-year-old UK-based Guyanese was beaten in the head before being strangled to death.
A senior police officer told Stabroek News yesterday that among those in custody are two persons who were conducting repairs on the Lot 180 Century Palm Gardens property, owned by the deceased George Cadogan, a retired solicitor and British citizen.
On the day of the discovery, the duo did not show up for work. They were picked up by investigators between Friday afternoon and yesterday morning for questioning.
This newspaper revisited the home yesterday and police officers were there questioning the man’s son and daughter who arrived in the country from England on Friday night. When approached, the daughter said the family did not wish to speak to the press at this time.
Police in a release had said that Cadogan was found lying on the floor of his house around 4.45 pm with his hands and feet bound and his mouth gagged with a bed sheet. The release said the entire bedroom was ransacked. Further investigations revealed that a laptop computer was missing.
It was Cadogan’s brother, Glen, who made the gruesome discovery. He turned up at the house after several telephone calls to the home went unanswered and noticed that a sheet of plywood put to block a window on the ground floor was out of place. He had earlier tied a bag of fruits to the gate after his brother did not respond to his calls.
Relatives had told this newspaper that the dead man was a UK-based Guyanese who returned home just before Christmas last year. The man was planning to sell the property and return to England where his wife and children reside.
At the time of his death, some minor repairs were being done on the house. Relatives had expressed suspicions that the perpetrator/s gained entry to the house though ground floor windows which were being repaired. (Stabroek News)
