– wife in custody
A woman is in police custody after she reportedly clubbed her reputed husband to death at Eclipse Falls, North West District on Friday afternoon following an argument over money for their three children.
The dead man has been identified as Augustine Henry; a miner. He died shortly after reaching the Port Kaituma Hospital located about 30 km away.
The emergency plane which is based at Mabaruma was unable to transport the badly wounded man to the city because it was already dark when the man arrived at the Port Kaituma Hospital.
Stabroek News was told that the couple had been having numerous arguments over Henry’s inability to adequately provide for his children. The woman has two other children from a previous relationship.
Henry had reportedly told the woman that he was sick and could not work. However on Friday around 5 pm, she caught him consuming alcohol and this led to a heated argument. At the time of the argument, Henry was in a cousin’s yard and was repeatedly hit in the head by the woman with a piece of wood that was nearby.
The cousin was returning home from work when he heard noises emanating from his yard and when he arrived, a barely alive Henry was already on the ground bleeding.
The woman, after the incident, went to her home where she was held by police yesterday morning.
She is in police custody at the Port Kaituma Police Station while Henry’s remains are at the defunct hospital mortuary awaiting a post-mortem examination.
This is the second murder in the North West in recent times.
Two Fridays ago, 21-year-old Damien La Rose was stabbed to death during an argument with a group of fishermen at Moruca, NWD.
Police had said in a press release that investigations revealed that La Rose, a pump attendant, and a group of friends were imbibing at a shop around 22:00 hrs when an argument arose. La Rose was fatally stabbed during the argument.
Stabroek News was subsequently told by residents of the area that La Rose and his friends were seen consuming alcohol at a shop near the bridge which links the Kumaka and Santa Rosa villages. They reportedly got into a heated argument with a group of fishermen who had visited the area to sell fish.
During the argument, the fishermen were reportedly taunted.
One of the fishermen then allegedly stabbed La Rose under his left breast. The friends who were with him ran away and left him.
La Rose died on his way to the Kumaka Cottage Hospital.
Four fishermen were arrested but they were all released on separate occasions. The Director of Public Prosecutions has since instructed the police to conduct further investigations.
