A man is in police custody and was up yesterday still being grilled in connection with the murder of the 64-year-old pensioner who was found bound and gagged in his ransacked South Ruimveldt Gardens home on Monday.
This new development in the investigation was confirmed by Crime Chief Seelall Persaud who told this newspaper that the suspect was picked up sometime yesterday morning. This newspaper was reliably informed that it was during the wee hours.
The body of Hector Fitzroy Marshall, a former public servant of Powis Close, South Ruimveldt Gardens, was discovered by his neighbour’s son around 7.10 am.
Bernadette Todd, a neighbour had told Stabroek News hours after the discovery that every morning when she left for work around 7 am, she would call for Marshall and he would respond from where he would normally sit on the veranda. However on Monday morning when she called there was no response.
According to Todd when she looked up he was not sitting in his usual spot.
The woman stated that she decided to send her 11-year-old son Jason to check on the pensioner but the child came back and reported that he had seen Marshall gagged, his feet and hands bound and lying in a bed that he did not usually sleep in.
Not believing what the child said, she went to check herself and found the man dead. The house was ransacked. However she could not say what was missing.
The police were called in and the body subsequently removed.
Marshall was described as a fellow who “liked to take his drinks every now and again”, but never had problems with any of his neighbours.
Other neighbours to whom Stabroek News had spoken had said that they did not notice anything suspicious the previous night, but surmised that robbery was the motive for the murder.