A farmer from the village of Kuru Kuru was shot and killed early yesterday during an encounter with three bandits who escaped with a significant quantity of cash and jewellery after tying up the man’s family with duct tape.
Dead is Mark Ritchie, 41, of Lot 4, Kuru Kuru, East Bank Demerara.
According to his wife, Rosalind Persaud, they were in bed sleeping sometime around 1:30 am when the men entered the house through a window close to the front door of the humble lodging.
The men, two of whom were brandishing handguns, confronted them and demanded cash, jewellery and drugs, specifically marijuana. The woman said that when Ritchie refused, the men who were dressed in regular street clothing became more agitated.
They hit her in the face, Persaud said, because they felt she was taking too long to hand over the valuables. The men after searching the place eventually got $120,000, $80,000 worth of jewellery, a DVD player, a tape deck and three cell phones but no drugs.
At the time of their entrance there were two adults and four children in the house who they later bound with duct tape in a back room.
Ritchie apparently put up some resistance to the intruders, who Persaud estimated were in the house for about half of an hour.
She said her husband went into the kitchen of the house where he grabbed a cutlass and chopped one of the men. He then jumped through the kitchen window. However the men caught up with him and shot him while he was in the yard. Persaud said Ritchie was shot four times in the head and chest.
The police arrived from the Kuru Kuru Outpost sometime later after having been brought to the house by someone who knows the family.
They did their initial investigations and left. Last night, the woman said they have not gotten back to her with a progress report.
Persaud told Stabroek News that the area is a peaceful one and robberies of such a nature do not usually occur. She also noted that they have been living there for several years. Ritchie was described as a quiet, friendly and decent person. He leaves to mourn his wife and eight children. Last night friends and family gathered at his home for a wake.
Up to press time, the police had not issued a statement on the murder/robbery.
