Bandits who murdered Karia Karia businessman Paul John on Wednesday arrived in the isolated community by boat in search of money and terrorized his wife who eventually trekked two miles along a dam for help.
Stabroek News found an emotional scene yesterday morning at Karia Karia, Essequibo River when relatives of the businesman were told the grim news of his death even as investigations into the man’s brutal murder continue.
According to the police, the 63-year old man was killed during a scuffle with a group of three men who attacked his home around 8:30 pm on Wednesday evening on the pretext of purchasing fuel. He was shot to the abdomen and was pronounced dead on arrival at the Suddie Hospital the following day – around 12 hours later.
The man’s niece Patricia Welcome and other relatives were only told of his death around 10 am yesterday morning when they went to his home which is situated at an area known as ‘Ebo’ within Karia Karia. The community, which lies next to Buckhall where Barama Company Limited has its operations, is located approximately 15 miles from Supenaam along the right bank of the Essequibo River.
Welcome broke down in tears as Paul’s closest relatives related the ordeal and according to persons living in the sparsely populated community, the area is in need of a police outpost as there have been a number of unreported crimes occurring there within the past three years.
John’s wife, Sahodra Persaud told Stabroek News that around 8:30 on Wednes-day evening, she was in the upper flat of her home when she heard a boat, powered by an outboard engine, pulling up close to a landing in her yard.
She said one man remained in the boat as two others emerged and enquired from her husband if he had any fuel as they were in dire need of it to get to their destination. Persaud said that she continued doing her normal chores as she recalled her husband expressing hesitation as he attempted to source the fuel for the men.
According to Persaud, the men were following her husband to an area at the side of the house where he stored the fuel when she recalled him, “telling one ah dem to loose he hand”.
She said her husband struggled with the men as they dragged him up the stairs while the third accomplice who was in the boat called on his colleagues to “hurry–up”. The distraught woman noted that she attempted to run out of the house but one of the men, “throw me down by the verandah and hold a gun to meh neck”. She said the agitated men kept enquiring “whey the money deh” and in fear she recalled explaining to them that the little money the family made was re-invested into the business.
The 61-year old woman stated that the intruder who was guarding her left and joined his colleagues in the house and it was during this time that she tried to escape. She said as she clambered over the verandah, her husband made a desperate attempt to grab a cutlass and it was at this point that she recalled hearing a single gunshot followed by a few seconds of silence.
Persaud said she ran at the back of the house and hid behind a fowl pen while the men ransacked her home in search of valuables and several minutes later she heard the men beating her husband as he lay on the steps.
The men escaped in a boat a few minutes later and Persaud said she came out of her hiding place in the dead of night and trekked almost two miles along a dam to her nearest neighbour, her brother with whom she spent the night, while her husband’s body lay on the steps.
The neighbourhood policing group at Karia Karia was mobilized and a report was made to the Aurora Police Station – an hour away by boat – that evening about the incident but the lawmen only arrived at the location the following morning. Persaud said a group of policemen dusted the scene for fingerprints and later transported her husband’s body to the Suddie Hospital where he was officially pronounced dead.
The entire ordeal lasted for about 15 minutes, the woman related and she noted that she had never seen the men before. The couple have no children.
Persaud said that in the 40 years the family lived at Karia Karia, they have never encountered any problems with anyone but she recalled the family suffering at the hands of thieves some two weeks ago when $40,000 in cash was taken from the home as the family attended a function at Wakenaam.
She said she will relocate to Wakenaam with other relatives. While she did not sustain any injury during the ordeal, it will take a while for her to overcome the entire episode. She said the men escaped with a quantity of jewellery, an undisclosed sum of cash and a chain saw.
Yesterday, residents in the community of less than 10 households displayed looks of concern and anger as some expressed horror at the manner in which the businessman, who operated a snackette, grocery shop and a boat building establishment, met his demise.
Welcome, who was at Parika on the East Bank of Essequibo when the incident occurred, only learnt of her uncle’s demise yesterday and according to her, she was expected to spend a few days with her uncle this week while she was on her leave. She said she spent close to 12 years living in her uncle’s farmland at the back of the isolated community and according to her, John had been like a father to her and other relatives.
She said the man was originally from Moruca in the North West District and according to her, relatives in the area were still to be told of his death and attempts were made to do so yesterday afternoon.
Residents at Karia Karia, a predominantly farming area, told Stabroek News yesterday that while there is a policing group within the community, there have been a number of crimes, including robberies, in the area recently, but most go unreported. One resident called on the police and Coast Guard to undertake frequent patrols within the nearby Essequibo River while others noted that officials from the latter agency would occasionally patrol the river.
Yesterday residents in the community were organizing a wake to be held in memory of John. A post-mortem examination is expected to be performed on his remains next week following which he will be buried on the Essequibo Coast.
To get to Karia Karia from Parika entails a 45-minute boat ride to Buck Hall and then a further 15 minutes by boat.
