Eight years after he was found floating in a trench at Fyrish backdam, Corentyne, relatives of cattle rearer Fitzroy Cort are far from satisfied with police investigations into the matter as there are still more questions than answers.
A post-mortem examination done on their insistence had revealed that he died from drowning but suspicious wounds on his body and missing money have convinced them that foul play was involved.
“I am calling on the police to reopen this matter,” an emotional Dido Cort told this newspaper on February 29, when she commemorated her brother’s death anniversary. The woman who lives overseas returns to Guyana every year and celebrates Cort’s life.
“I feel so sad when I come to Guyana because all I can do is put a wreath and put a memoriam in the newspaper,” she said, explaining that Cort was like her son as when their mother died, he was only an infant and she was tasked with caring for him.
Then a young teen, she said, she managed to juggle school and motherly duties, which made his death even harder for her to come to grips with. She said that at one point she was so desperate for information that she decided to put up a monetary reward for assistance in getting information but was advised not to do so.
Like her, many of the man’s relatives still have the incident fresh in their minds. Among them is his sister-in-law Shaundel, who along with her husband Joseph (Cort’s brother), shared a house with him.
It was explained to this newspaper that on February 29, 2004, Cort left his Lot 80 Fyrish Road home with his cows for the backdam around 9 am. Normally he would return home around 1.30 pm. After he did not return, Joseph got worried and later informed an older brother that Cort had not returned home.
Around 5.30 pm that day, a group of villagers and relatives launched a search but it was a short one as night fell a short while later. As a result the searchers ended up at the Albion Police Station where they attempted to lodge a report but were told by ranks that they needed to wait 24 hours before a missing person’s report can be filed.
Shaundel, during a lengthy interview with this newspaper, said they were still worried and some time later two men – a father and son – were seen walking out of the backdam. The father had bruises on his belly and this immediately aroused suspicions.
The woman, who was part of the search party, recalled that they “hailed” out to the men but they did not stop. The men eventually ran away but some of the searchers, she said recognised the men and they ended up at their home in Chesney Village. The father and son were taken to the police and later, acting on information received the police collected two more persons.
Stabroek News was told that while on the way to the police station, the son kept saying it was not him who killed Cort, but his father. Shaundel said this information was given to the police, but they said it had to be ignored since the 24 hours before Cort could have been declared missing had not yet passed.
The woman said the man did not reveal how Cort was killed but the wounds on his father’s belly seemed to confirm what he was saying.
The searches continued that the following day and some time during the early afternoon, Shaundel said, she received a message that Cort’s body had been found floating in a trench in the backdam. She said it was Cort’s eldest brother who pulled his body out.
When she arrived, she recalled, police were already there. A police photographer took photographs of Cort’s forehead, which appeared to be “bashed in”, she said, adding front teeth were missing and his belly had what appeared to be stab wounds.
Murdered
She opined that Cort was beaten to death before being thrown into the trench. She said the shirt Cort was wearing when he left home the morning before was missing. “His haversack was still on his back. He had a wallet and all the money was taken… like $10,000,” she said.
About a day or two later, the suspects held were released and when Dido arrived in the country, according to Shaundel, the men were rearrested.
She said following the discovery of the body she learnt that one of the men arrested had threatened Cort. She said that up to now she is still questioning the motive.
Shaundel explained to Stabroek News that Dido, after seeing the wounds on the body, approached a senior police official and informed him that the funeral will be delayed as the family wanted to get a pathologist to perform a PME.
“He tell we no don’t delay the funeral. He will arrest the men and let us bury the dead,” the woman said.
She said they took the official’s advice and as promised the men were rearrested. Later when relatives contacted the police they were informed that the file was with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). “At this point the men were released and every time we call no one has anything to tell you. All they saying is that the matter under investigation,” she said.
She said what was even stranger was that the police photographer was transferred and he later claimed that the film with the pictures of Cort’s injuries was “spoilt. So there is no evidence”.
She said the police never contacted them to give an update and the last time her husband spoke to the police, he was told that the matter was still with DPP. She said that although so much time has passed she is clinging to the hope that one day the truth will be revealed.
Like Shaundel, Dido has also concluded that Cort was murdered. She confirmed that it was she who went to the morgue and not being satisfied called for a PME. She contended that if the police had investigated the death properly those responsible would have been brought to justice.
Her voice laced with emotion, she urged the police and members of the public to help the family to get some closure.
