Donna Thomas, whose bloody corpse was found at her D’Urban Street home on Saturday, is believed to have been killed by an abusive partner over the money she collected hours before.
Thomas, 49, a security guard from Nabaclis, East Coast Demerara, was found lying in a pool of blood with several stab wounds in her small apartment at Lot 6-9 D’Urban Street and Cross streets, Werk-en-Rust. The discovery was made by a co-worker, who visited the house in search of the woman after she had failed to appear at work on Friday.
At Thomas’s home on Sunday, her landlord, Randolph Yaw, said he was aware of her abusive past with the suspect, who is still being sought by police. According to him, it was the abuse that drove Thomas to move to Georgetown.
“The abuse was too much and she left him up the East Coast and come live in town here and start the guard work,” he related. Yaw explained that the suspect took Thomas to his home eight months ago and arranged for her to rent the apartment. However, the fighting between the two continued and they both left. Thomas subsequently returned and continued to live in the house.
Yaw said he had seen the body and related that the woman’s hand was sliced. He speculated that she had fought back and may have held onto the knife. “Like when he fire de juk, she hold on pon the knife because one side hand burst, it tear,” he said.
When asked if any unusual sounds were heard when the murder was believed to have occurred, one neighbour stated that Thomas was at the time suffering from a cold and had lost her voice. “Even if she de holler, we wonta hear she,” the woman said. “The woman didn’t deserve to die like that, she was a good person,” she added.
Norma Thomas said her niece grew up with her and although they shared a close relationship, she was never the type to talk and confide in her. She stated that she never knew of the problems between her niece and the suspect.
Thomas’s boss, Ray Lewis, Managing Director of Investigative and Tactical Service (ITS), told Stabroek News that she had only worked two days at his firm–May 22 and May 23 –before she asked for time off on the following day. She told him she wanted to visit her previous workplace, Professional Guard Service (PGS), to collect money that was owed to her.
Lewis had said he and his sister, who also works at the firm, became concerned and around 8.45 am on Saturday, opted to drive to Thomas’s home to enquire why she had not turned up the previous night. There, he said, he sat in the vehicle as his sister walked into the yard. The man recalled that shortly after, his sister returned in a hysterical state, screaming that she had seen the woman’s bloody corpse in her apartment.
Another security guard, who is employed at PGS, told this newspaper that Thomas left PGS two weeks ago, because the suspect made disturbing visits to her while she was on duty at various locations. He explained that the man would constantly go looking for the woman and demand money. When refused, he would verbally abuse her and sometimes attempt to hit her, the guard stated.
Business owners after observing this troubling behaviour complained to PGS. However, PGS Managing Director Dougal Kirkpatrick denied that the woman was fired and said that she left of own free will. He said that she was employed at PGS for approximately three years as a Baton Sergeant.
A source told this newspaper on Saturday that the woman had received her salary on Friday from PGS and she had refused to give her partner a portion. The source said the man was known to the police, and that he had been seen walking along the road some minutes before officers arrived at the scene.
