Five years after gaining notoriety when police published a wanted bulletin for his arrest in the midst of the Camp Street prison escapee-led crime wave in June 2003, Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins finally met his end, shot dead by members of the Joint Services yesterday.
During his criminal career, he had sparked fear in the heart of the nation, accused of committing horrific crimes, including the execution of a serving minister of Government, and the three massacres this year that left 31 persons dead.
Dubbed by police as the leader of the Agricola/Buxton criminal gang, the Agricola, East Bank Demerara-born resident has been on the run since 2003 and while several of his associates had been captured or killed, Rawlins managed to survive. He gained notoriety when police published a wanted bulletin for his arrest in the midst of the escapee-led crime wave in June 2003. Police had said that Rawlins was wanted for a series of robberies. Still in his early twenties when the bulletin was published for his arrest, Rawlins is said to have grown up in the Agricola community with his siblings and other relatives. Not much is known about his schooling and his childhood days.
Rawlins was said to have been involved in armed robberies and when the prison escapees were on the loose he was drafted in as a look-out mainly based in Agricola. Soon, some of the escapees were killed and Rawlins found himself in Buxton taking charge of small groups who were also part of the criminal gang. He was linked to a number of high-profile assaults including the one in 2005 in which Agricola resident David Barrow was beheaded.
In that attack, Barrow, Shamika Boyce and a Paul Persaud called “Yankee’ were killed. Barrow called ‘Gurple’ was said to have been the “biggest name” in the village.
Rawlins was also linked to several raids on East Coast villages. But it was in February 2006 that Rawlins gained further notoriety. Police had said that he was part of the 15-member gang that brought terror to Agricola on February 26, 2006 killing eight people and attempting to blow up a gas station.
Reports at the time indicate that over a dozen gunmen under his command, reportedly dropped off in cars, blocked off a section of the road at Mc Doom and at Eccles and carried out a one-hour assault on residents of Agricola and Eccles.
Some of the men walked to Two Brothers Gas station where they launched an attack aimed at burning it down. They then unleashed a volley of shots at three MMC security guards whose vehicle was having air put into its tyres at the time. The three men, Sheldon Smartt, Cedric Dummett and Loris Semple died on the spot.
Following the execution of the guards, the gunmen walked into Agricola where they apprehended Hannah Cameron and David Brummel in their homes. The elderly couple was shot several times and Brummel’s throat was sliced. They were then set alight on their bed.
A similar assault was carried out at Caesar Street, Agricola where Assistant Town Clerk, Lavern Scott-Garraway was shot and her body burnt. The gunmen went to the home and asked for her husband, David Scott, who wasn’t there at the time. They then demanded money, but before the woman reacted she was riddled with bullets and her house set on fire. Stabroek News was told at that time that it was clear that the gunmen knew who their targets were. One resident had told this newspaper that persons had gone around the village a few days before warning villagers of the attack. Cameron’s grandson Fenton Rudder and Cecil Duncan of Kitty were also killed.
Assembled
Police had linked the killings to the Buxton criminal gang and had assembled a team of detectives to investigate the slaughter. They had said that Rawlins was behind the attack.
Then on the morning of April 22, 2006 seven masked gunmen dressed in military fatigues invaded the home of the then Agriculture Minister, Satyadeow Sawh and riddled him, his two siblings, Phulmattie Persaud and Rajpat Sawh and his guard Curtis Robertson, with bullets.
Reports were that the minister’s wife, Sattie and his brother, Omprakash, were in the kitchen around 12.15 am when they saw a masked gunman through the window. Sattie had said that she alerted the minister who was in his hammock on the veranda, but before he could have scampered to safety, he was shot. He collapsed just inside his front door. Omprakash hid his sister Phulmattie Persaud underneath a bed, but the gunmen found her and dragged her out. Omprakash had said that he begged the men for his sister’s life and gave them $23,000, a digital camera and a watch, but they still shot her in the face.
The gunmen then turned their guns on the minister again and at the same time placed Omprakash on top of Rajpat to execute them both. He said he and his brother were praying for their lives and as the gunmen left they fired shots killing Rajpat. Since the incident police have issued several wanted bullets for persons including the late notorious prison escapee Troy Dick. Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles, one of the two men killed with Rawlins yesterday, was in December 2006 also charged with the minister’s murder. He was
remanded to prison.
In January last year, police had offered a reward of $2 million for information leading to the arrests of seven men, they had said were wanted in connection with the investigation into the murder of Sawh, other murders and serious offences. Rawlins was listed among those, who were wanted.
Rawlins’ name surfaced again in 2007 in connection with the slaying of two men at a beer garden on Agriculture Road, Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara. Reports are that 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.
Massacres
Apart from the more mind-chilling crimes, there had been claims by many robbery victims that he was among the bandits who attacked them.
2008 was a year, unmatched in ferocity, as attacks were launched on a scale that shocked and left the nation scarred. Three massacres, 32 men, women and children dead and citizens in a state of mourning.
The name Rawlins was spoken about with fear. It started with the disappearance of his purported pregnant girlfriend, Tenisha Morgan on January 18. Police said that a man purporting to be Rawlins contacted the Criminal Investigation Department headquarters several days later issuing threats if the girl was not found. Morgan had travelled to Georgetown as it was near time for her to give birth. She disappeared and her whereabouts is still unknown.
That very night gunmen engaged the army in Buxton killing one soldier and wounding another during a 20-minute shootout.
Two days later, they turned their attention on the police and on the night of January 25, in one of the most brazen attacks in recent history, gunmen blasted three policemen manning the western gate at the Police Headquarters, Eve Leary, hitting two in their legs and leaving the force scrambling to protect its base. Police Commissioner, Henry Greene had told this newspaper that Rawlins was believed to have upped the ante against the security forces following the alleged abduction of Morgan.
In the wee hours of January 26, the East Coast Village of Lusignan was hit. A large band of gunmen slaughtered 11 persons, including five children in the community. Those killed were 48-year-old Clarence Thomas, his 12-year-old daughter Vanessa Thomas and his son Ron Thomas; 32-year-old Mohandai Gourdat and her two sons, four-year-old Seegobind Harrilall and ten-year-old Seegopaul Harrilall; 22-year-old Shazam Mohamed; 55-year-old Shaleem Baksh; and Seecharran Rooplall, 56, his wife, Dhanrajie Ramsingh, 52, and their 11-year-old daughter, Raywattie Ramsingh.
One day after, Police offered a $30 million reward for Rawlins capture and several days later upped this to $50M, the highest reward the force had ever offered for one man.
The nightmare however continued on the night of February 17. In an hour long brutalizing attack, over a dozen gunmen stormed the police station in the interior community. Around 9.45 that night, an estimated 15-20 gunmen rampaged through Bartica. Reports were that three of the men were left to guard the river while more than ten others assaulted the community in the hour-long attack. The police outpost was first attacked and three officers, Lance Corporal Zaheer Zakir and Constables Shane Fredericks, Ron Osborne were killed while two others were seriously wounded. The gang of gunmen carted off several firearms and ammunition from two strongboxes at the outpost.
As the gunmen moved through the community, they shot dead 72-year-old security guard, Irving Ferreira even as he attempted to flee. The other persons killed in the attack were Bartica residents Edwin Gilkes and Dexter Adrian; Deonarine Singh, who was from Wakenaam; Ronald Gomes of Kuru Kururu, Ashraf Khan of Middlesex Essequibo, Abdool Yasin, Errol Thomas of Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo and Baldeo Singh of Montrose East Coast Demerara, who were shot execution style at the Transport and Harbours Stelling. The gunmen also stole safes, guns and ammunition. Rawlins name was called again.
On June 6, nearly three months after the attack on Bartica, the Joint Services on the basis of intelligence they had received located Rawlins’s camp at Christmas Falls, some 300 miles up the Berbice River. According to the lawmen, the gunmen opened fire on them, and in the exchange one gang member was killed, and six others fled. Subsequently, three other men associated with the gang were killed by the Joint Services in Region 10.
Shock
But another shock awaited the nation. The burnt bodies of eight miners were found at Lindo Creek. They were believed to be the burnt remains of Clifton Wong, Nigel Torres, Cecil Arokium, Compton Speirs, Bonny Harry, Horace Drakes, Dax Arokium and Lancelot Lee. The gruesome act was believed to have occurred in early June but the remains were not discovered until June 21 by the owner of the mine, Leonard Arokium. It is believed that one or more of the men may have been tortured before being killed and their bodies burnt along with all their possessions at the camp site. The question of who carried out that slaughter was mired in controversy as Arokium had blamed the Joint Services but they had strongly denied this. They blamed Rawlins and his gang.
Since the attacks this year, several persons have been charged in connection with the killings but Rawlins had managed to elude capture. That ended yesterday.
Jermaine Charles
Charles escaped from custody at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court on June 25th.
Charles had appeared at Sparendaam for the continuation of the PI into the slayings at the home of Minister Sawh.
According to reports, after “Skinny” had appeared before Magistrate Yohhanseh Cave, he was taken downstairs to the holding area in the police station and disappeared afterwards. Police ranks only realized that the man was missing when they were lining up the other prisoners to take them back to the Camp Street prisons. Onlookers related that the police then launched a frantic search which turned out to be futile.
One woman told Stabroek News that she went to the station to look after some personal matters but was asked to wait outside of the compound. She said she was not aware of the reason but heard persons saying that “some prisoner like he escape.”
Another man said that he saw the police peering underneath the station which is about two feet off the ground. He added that he heard some ranks saying that they saw prints in the “sappy” ground under the flooring of the station which would indicate that “Skinny” escaped via a loose floor board and then crawled out unnoticed.
Charles has been charged along with Dwight Da Silva, Quincy Evans, Terrence John, Delwayne Carrington and a boy who is now 15-years-old for a number of other murders.
He was charged along with Da Silva for the murder of Barbot Paul, the Kaneville, East Bank Demerara businessman who was shot and killed outside his home on August 6. Charles is also accused of killing Devon Charles of Agricola on June 23, Guilford Henry on June 26, 2005 and 12-year-old Kevin Browne on March 18, 2006. He shares the murder charge for Browne with Dego France. Charles is also charged with Da Silva and Evans for being part of a group of men who allegedly murdered five Kaieteur News pressmen – Chetram Persaud, Eion Wegman, Richard Stewart, Mark Maikoo and Shazeem Mohamed in August 2006.
It is also alleged that they killed Wordsworth Grey on August 8. The 15-year-old boy, who was 13 years then, was also charged for that murder. Charles was then charged for the murders of Sawh, Rajpat Sawh, Phulmattie Persaud and Curtis Robinson on April 22 at La Bonne Intention (LBI) East Coast Demerara. David Leander, called ‘Biscuit’, was also charged separately with the LBI slayings.
Charles had a three-hour lead before a manhunt was launched for him.
The loose board was something the station sergeant had knowledge about over a month ago, the police admitted.
Greene speaking at a press conference at his office on the prisoner’s escape told reporters that the police were convinced that the man’s escape was well planned.