A 56-year-old mother of six was yesterday morning found dead at a shop located at Waiakabra, Linden/Soesdyke Highway and the police suspect that she was raped and murdered.
Judy Joseph of Swan also on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway was found hours after she left the shop for home. A man who was seen troubling the woman was up to yesterday afternoon being questioned by the police.
A post-mortem examination will be conducted later this week to ascertain how she died.
This newspaper was told that when she was found, some time after 4 am, her pants and underwear were pulled down. The woman had been drinking at the shop with friends to celebrate Mother’s Day and when she left hours later she was intoxicated.
Felicia Pierre told Stabroek News that she usually wakes up very early to cook and rose at around 4 am yesterday to collect her greens. She said that after taking the greens into her home she returned back to her yard to get a bucket of water.
She explained that when she gets up that hour she would check around to ensure that everything is intact. Beginning now to choke on her words she said that she noticed something in front of the shop and when she shone her torchlight in that direction, “I see is me friend Judy. So I rush to she and I shake she”. Pierre said that although she shook the woman and called her name repeatedly she got no response.
“I tried to open her mouth with my finger but dat was already looked tight,” she said, her eyes swollen with tears. The woman said that she immediately informed her husband about the discovery.
She recalled that she told her husband that Judy appeared dead but her husband did not want to view the body.
Pierre said she did not notice any marks on the body but the woman’s pants and underwear were pulled down below her bottom.
Pierre said they later contacted relatives and then the police.
She said that she last saw her friend around 11 on Sunday night. She explained that earlier in the day, the woman visited her home. Pierre operates the shop in front of her home.
According to her, at her friend’s insistence, she bought some alcoholic beverages to celebrate Mother’s Day. She said that some of the woman’s relatives and friends also joined them at the shop for drinks. Just after 11 pm, she recalled, the woman’s relatives indicated that they were leaving but Joseph remained. At that time, she said the woman was fast asleep but she woke her up.
She said that usually when Joseph is in a drunken state she would keep her at her home until morning. She recalled that the woman woke up and assured her that she was fit enough to make the walk home unaided.
The woman said she stood in her yard watching Joseph walking along the track leading to the highway. When she was almost to the road, a man named `Joe’, she recalled, started troubling the woman. She said she hollered on the man and he left on foot in the opposite direction. She then went back to her home.
There is a clump of bush in front of her home obstructing her view of a section of the highway. The tracks that Joseph and `Joe’ took are to the right and left of that clump of bush. She said that after the discovery of the woman’s body police went to Joe’s home located at Tower Road and collected him.
Pierre who has been living at Waiakabra for about nine years said it was hard to ascertain how the woman was killed but she expressed belief that Joseph was attacked and possibly killed on the roadway and her body dragged back to her shop. “In this place people just don’t like me,” she said adding that she is envied because of her shop.
She said that she and the dead woman were close friends and her death has shocked her.
The woman later said that police took some time to arrive at the scene. She said that they had contacted police at the Kuru Kururu station and were told that there was no patrol in that area or rank available to come. She said that later they were advised to dial 911. The police arrived at the shop shortly after.
Meanwhile at the woman’s home, her relatives were in shock. Her husband Edmond Federicks said that he last saw his wife around 7.30 am on Sunday. He said that he later left for the shop and she later left the house.
He said he was surprised the following morning when she did not return home. A niece then informed him that his wife was dead, he recalled, adding that he went to the shop.
Federicks stated that some time back his wife had a problem with the people at the shop. He explained that she had been insulted while there on one occasion and as such he was not in agreement with her going there.
He said he saw the body adding that “it look like an ordinary body”.
Her daughter Maylene Joseph told Stabroek News that part of her mother’s breasts and her private parts were exposed. Maylene whose eyes were puffy from crying stated that she believed her mother was smothered to death. She ruled out choking since according to her there were no visible marks around her neck. She added that from all indications her mother was also raped.
