The bloodied body of Rhonda Thompson, 32, a hairdresser of Onderneeming, West Coast Berbice was discovered around 6:30 pm yesterday with her throat slit.
Reports are that she was working at her ‘New Look Salon’ when she left earlier in the afternoon to go to her home located at the back. Persons said that a relative was about to enter the house when the gruesome discovery was made in front of the door.
Thompson’s estranged husband was found in the backlands early this morning with his throat slit. He had been sought by police for questioning in the murder of his wife. He died this afternoon in hospital.
Reports are that Kingsley Thompson called ‘Bungee’, who was covered in mud, was treated at the Fort Wellington Hospital before being transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital. Sources say that he had also ingested a poisonous substance.
He was married to her for a few years but left the home three months ago following a misunderstanding. Sources said that the man had begged her to take him back.
When this newspaper arrived at the scene of the murder last evening a large crowd had gathered.
Police were also there conducting investigations as relatives stood among the crowd sobbing softly.
Many were lamenting about what a “good person she was.” They described her as a “friendly and quiet person.”
The body was removed by undertakers from Anthony’s Funeral Home around 9 pm. Some persons started to wail loudly with some commenting that it was “true Rhonda; it’s true this happen to you.”
Thompson who was separated from her husband, leaves to mourn a teenaged son.
Reports are that she had been threatened three months ago by a male. The police are said to be investigating this angle.
Thompson’s murder is the latest of women this year. On Saturday the body of Indira Singh was found at her Vergenoegen home (see other story on page 10.)
In January this year, Bebe Jaharol Banu, Afrozie `Lizzie’ Ali and Rushelle Rodney were slain and their cases remain unsolved as the perpetrators are still at large.
First to be killed was Banu, whose lifeless body was found in her De Willem North, West Coast Demerara house on New Year’s Day with a piece of cloth wrapped around her neck.
The 66-year-old mother of four was in a semi nude condition when her body was discovered by a male around 15:00 hrs and when the police arrived they found her dentures and wristwatch outside the apartment, which indicated that there might have been a scuffle before Banu even entered the apartment. Upon entering the bottom flat, the police saw that the woman’s stockings, pants and underwear were below her knees, her top was pulled up and a cloth was around her throat. The man who made the discovery was arrested but later released.
Then on January 15, the body of Ali, 40, of Lot 56 Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo, was found in the cemetery at Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo. She was nude when she was discovered. A post-mortem examination conducted on her remains revealed that she died from asphyxiation due to manual strangulation and blunt trauma to the head. A suspect was held but he was later released.
On January 17, the bloodied body of Rodney was discovered in her house at Boodhoo Housing Scheme, Blankenburg, West Coast Demerara. Her neck and both wrists were slit with kitchen knives which were found near her body.
Rodney and her husband, Shawn, according to reports had an argument earlier in that day and Rodney locked him out of the house. It is believed that at some stage she let him in and he attacked her. After the incident, he reportedly fled in his car which was found abandoned on the East Coast. He later called relatives and admitted to the crime before revealing that he was in Suriname.
Police have since issued a wanted bulletin for him.
In February, Sita Reddy was killed. She was found dead with her throat slashed and stab wounds to her body in her home at Craig Village, East Bank Demerara around 14:10 hrs. In March two women were killed and police have been able to arrest and charge the alleged perpetrators. On March 17, the body of Leonaka Natasha Johnson was found in a canal near her Lot 17 Nismes River View, West Bank Demerara home. She had left her home two days prior in the company of a policeman she had befriended several weeks prior.
The rank was later ruled out as a suspect and the woman’s fiancé David Johnson was arrested and charged with murder.
Bibi Shameena Khairoodin, 45, sustained wounds to her head, back and hands and her semi-nude body was discovered in a pool of blood on her bedroom floor in the lower flat of her Canefield, East Canje house.
A family member reportedly saw her husband Ramdhanie ‘Prak’ Persaud in the lower flat with a weapon in his hand before he fled the scene. He was on the run for several days and police later issued a wanted bulletin for him. He turned up with a lawyer and was arrested and charged.
