The suspects in two recent interior murders are still at-large and police investigators believe that they are using the dense forest as a hideout.
Crime Chief Seelall Persaud confirmed yesterday that police in ‘E and F’ Division are still looking for those responsible for the murders of Brazilian Raimundo Gomes Da Silva and city resident Troy Anthony Burkett, called ‘Tall Man’ and ‘Red Man.’ A police source explained that catching perpetrators in the interior regions is always a difficult task for investigators.
The source noted that it is easy for a murder suspect to escape the nets of law enforcement because of the limited number of ranks, isolated communities and the vast landscape where one can easily hide.
Stabroek News was told of many instances where murder suspects and others who have committed serious crimes have never been caught.
Da Silva, 41, was killed last Monday. Initial investigations, the police had said, revealed that Da Silva and another Brazilian man were drinking at a shop at Black Water, Potaro around 3 am, when they both left and went outside.
Da Silva was subsequently seen with blood on his clothing and was “suspected to have been stabbed to his chest.” He was taken to the Mahdia Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The suspect, according to the police fled the scene on an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV).
Some 12 hours later, police in the division were faced with the murder of Burkett. Around 6 pm Burkett was brutally chopped to death at Konawaruk Backdam, during an argument.
The police had said that he and another man were involved in an argument, during which he was chopped to his neck and other parts of his body. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Mahdia Hospital. Burkett’s relatives, however, said they were told that he was chopped to death in his sleep, sometime after he had a confrontation with the suspect at a creek.
Back in 2010, Persaud had said that it was difficult to tackle serious crimes because of the geography of the area, the scattered population and inadequate communications. He assured that in spite of these issues, police continue to conduct stop and search exercises, regularly patrol mining and logging communities and have been working closely with companies to try and bring the situation under control.
Police Commissioner Henry Greene last year had expressed concern at an increase in disorderly murders in the interior and had gone as far as to say that coastlanders attracted by the price of gold were travelling to the area to commit crimes.
