As expected, the autopsy performed on Ricardo Rodrigues, who was mowed down by gunmen at the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) in Georgetown on Monday, said that he died of multiple gunshot wounds.
Stabroek News was unable to make contact with senior police officials to ascertain the number of gunshot wounds and where on his body the bullets penetrated.
Rodrigues called `Fatman’ was shot multiple times at GMR&SC’s Pitt Stop Restaurant where he was at the time a patron. The 40 year old, one-time associate of drug King Pin Shaheed Roger Khan, who had addresses at Bel Air Gardens, and Bel Air Village, Lamaha Gardens, was clearly the target of the attack, which was carried out by a group of men clad in black.
His killing came just days after being released on bail over the unearthing of an arms cache in Lethem. On October 1st at Tabatinga, Lethem, police found four automatic rifles along with four magazines and 389 rounds of 7.62×39 calibre ammunition; six M-16 rifles along with two magazines and 74 matching rounds; two shrapnel hand grenades; an Icon VHF radio set; an Icon hand-held radio set; and a roll of camouflage material on October 1.
Sources say that Rodrigues’ gruesome killing may have been linked to a “weapons for drugs” deal that went sour or that he knew too much about the weaponry found.
“Ironic, though it is, that some of the same things these weapons were used for was carried out on Fatman and makes you wonder boy, was it for the money he owe or was it to shut he up on what the weapons is used for because dead man tell no tales?” A source had said to Stabroek News .
Rodrigues had been a perennial target of major police investigations, including murders, but he always managed to escape charges. He was identified by name by former US Ambassador to Guyana Roland Bullen, in a 2006 Diplomatic Cable released by WikiLeaks, as an “established player” in drug trafficking in Guyana.
In Monday’s shooting three other persons, Aubrey Henry, Michael Hopkinson and Jean Le Blanc, were wounded. Henry has since been discharged while Le Blanc remains a patient in the High Dependency Unit of the GPHC nursing a gunshot wound to his buttocks. His and Hopkinson’s condition are listed as stable.
Police are continuing their investigations.
