The dead body of a city businessman was yesterday morning discovered with multiple wounds to the head at his Eccles, East Bank Demerara home.
The body of Junior Richards, also known as ‘Non-Stop,’ 49, of Lot 18, Anaida Avenue, Eccles East Bank Demerara, was found in his home around 10:45 hrs. Police said that there were marks of violence to Richards’ head and they were treating the case as a suspected murder.
According to reports, the body was discovered in his bedroom in the upper flat of his two-flat home by his maid. Richards operated several businesses in the city, including Le Rich Guest House on Princes Street as well as a garment entity and a taxi service.
Speaking to reporters at Richards’ home yesterday, his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Cox, said he was bludgeoned to death, noting the multiple wounds to the region of the head. She said the wounds appeared to have been inflicted with a blunt object. While she could not suggest a motive for the killing, Cox said investigators found several large pieces of brick close to the man’s body.
One of Richards’ employees said that early yesterday, a maid contacted the business place after she arrived at his home and saw “the house lock up” and the “lights around the house on.” The employee said she and another employee subsequently went up to the house and they found the back door open. According to the woman, she sensed something was amiss and entered the home to be greeted by a ransacked living room. Clothing, furniture and other articles were strewn around the home and blood stains were splattered on the floor, the woman related. She said she entered the bedroom and discovered Richards lying face down on his bed with bloodstains in the vicinity of his head. According to her, she immediately travelled to the Providence Police Station and related her discovery.
Police detectives cordoned off the scene as they carried out their investigations yesterday, while several relatives and friends of Richards gathered in front of the house. Relatives told Stabroek News that the man’s wife was in Barbados, where she traded clothing for the garment business. She was expected in the country some time last night. They described Richards as a quiet and hard-working individual who was not known to have any enemies or grievances with anyone.
The man’s neighbours related that on Tuesday night, some time after 10, a car was parked on the road in front of the house with its hazard lights illuminated for a considerable amount of time.
Police investigators told this newspaper yesterday that information revealed that two persons had visited the man that evening and might be the last persons to have been in contact with him. Investigators spent close to three hours scouring the scene yesterday and a tracker dog trailed the street leading to a location at the southern eastern periphery of the community.
As the man’s body was removed by undertakers from the home, relatives broke down in tears. “Revenge, we will find who kill ‘Non-Stop’,” one relative shouted, as he consoled another family member. Other relatives speculated about the motive behind the man’s death, some stating that he might have known his killers.
Richards’ body is currently at the Lyken Funeral Home in the city, awaiting a post-mortem examination.