Taxi-driver killing
Police are currently working on a print-out of calls made to and from a cellular phone belonging to murdered taxi driver Sean De Freitas Sookdeo, and his relatives are clinging to the hope that this may lead investigators to his killers.
Though almost three weeks have passed since his bullet riddled and tortured body was found in the grass on Thomas Lands, the grief that has overcome his relatives is still fresh and tears still flow.
Giving an update recently Crime Chief Seelall Persaud said that investigators are still working on the case particularly on reports that his murder was sparked by him taking money from someone to import a car but which he failed to deliver.
Persaud said that based on all the information they have this does seem to be the motive. He gave the assurance that the investigation is “still active, still open,” even though there have been no new developments.
According to the man’s parents Carol and Kumar Sookdeo, one of the investigating ranks contacted them saying that they were in possession of “a read-out of the phone and that he will check the numbers.”
Carol, while opining that the print-out may yield a clue that could result in a breakthrough in the investigation, added that the family is very appreciative of the fact that ranks were keeping them updated.
The cellular phone is among several personal items the police are still retaining to assist with their investigation.
Even as her eye swelled with tears, she noted that all she can do is give the police some time to do their work, especially since from all indications they are actively pursuing the case.
“Let the police do their work. We are going to wait on them. We know that they have a lot of work to do and it is not us alone,” she said, adding that it would not be right for the family to pressure the ranks because “it is not we alone.”
While she and her relatives want answers to the many questions, she said again, they know that they have to be patient and cooperate with the police.
“I am hoping that one day, they [the police] will provide answers.”
Carol while speaking with Stabroek News refuted the many reports that her son might have been involved in an illegal activity. She made it clear that she was unaware of any “police matter” her son was involved in, and more so about any grievances he had with anyone.
“I don’t know about matters. If anybody had a matter against him I guess they should come out and give [the] news to the police and let us get the facts right. I don’t know of him having matters with people and it going to the police,” she said before recalling that he had “a small matter long ago.” However she did not provide details on what that matter was about.
“Why people just digging up a man’s past and he died. Why not look for the killers… whatever he did nobody had a right to kill him,” Carol stressed.
In a bid to explain what a hard worker Sookdeo was, she said that the car he worked as a taxi did not belong to him. She said that it belong to a friend. “Previously he was driving cars that he was renting from people. It shows how hard he was trying to make ends meet,” she continued, noting that her son had been a taxi driver for about three years.
In addition to the taxi business, she said that her son and his wife operated a clothing store, but they were forced to close it down in July after a robbery months earlier. “He give it up July after they were robbed in May of a large amount of money which I cannot disclose, and then the business started to go down because he didn’t have a capital,” she said.
Strange call
Sookdeo’s parents told Stabroek News that the night before he was discovered their house phone rang but there was no answer on the other end.
Kumar said that around 10.45 pm, “somebody called the house phone but the person on the other end did not respond. During the night it rang back two more times and we didn’t answer because no one didn’t answer the first time.” The couple said that they found the call strange.
He said that after that they could not sleep, then Sookdeo’s wife called saying that he had not come home. According to Kumar they sat up for the rest of the night drinking coffee waiting on news of their son’s whereabouts.
Meanwhile Carol said that although several weeks have passed daily living is hard for her because she still thinks of him a lot.
She said that his death came as a shock to her because at no time did she give any indication that something was bothering him or that he was in trouble. She last saw him two days before he was found and also talked to him several times during the previous day.
The woman recalled that her daughter-in-law had called her saying that Sookdeo got a call around 8 o’clock and had left, but had failed to return home. The woman said that the wife called around 12.35 and when she called his phone it rang out. She said she tried this several times and got the same result and made the last attempt at 1.30 am when she got a recording that the phone was turned off or out of the serving area.
She said that later that morning one of his friends called and said that he was involved in an accident at Thomas Lands. At that point she was under the impression that he was injured and was being treated at the hospital. As she made her way there in the company of relatives she received the tragic news that he had been shot and killed.
Asked if she had anything to say to those responsible for Sookdeo’s death she replied, “He or she knows themselves. They didn’t have to do this but they did it anyway. God is the judge and he will judge all of us.”
It was passers-by who stumbled upon the body which bore gunshot wounds at Thomas Lands, Georgetown outside the National Park, at about 6 am on August 28.
Police were immediately informed and ranks after viewing the body found a total of four gunshot wounds in the head, abdomen and left arm.
There were also cigarette burns about the body which the Crime Bhief said was an indication that Sookdeo had been tortured.
Police have ruled out robbery as the motive as the man’s locked motor car was found parked in front of his sister’s McDoom, East Coast Demerara home hours before his body was found.
