Dear Editor,
Microscopist Philbert Mitchell Pierre Jr died under suspicious circumstances on the night of Wednesday, January 23, 2013 in the Koberimo Creek Barima-Waini, Region No 1.
However the post mortem result showed he died from drowning, which the public rejected. The people who viewed the body after the police retrieved it from the water that evening, observed it was not the body of someone who had drowned; his tummy was normal but his left eye was damaged and blood was oozing from it as well as from his nose and ears, which suggests he might have been struck with a blunt object across the eye.
Concerned members of the Mabaruma community believe he might have been beaten on land and then thrown into the Koberimo Creek a bit upstream, or killed while on the way home.
The time-frame also suggests Mitchell may have died around Wednesday midnight to early Thursday morning; his watch stopped working at 25 mins to 2 on Thursday morning, and the body was found floating in an upright position on Thursday afternoon around 4 pm.
Mitchell, Mitch, Mitchie, or Pierrie as he was called, was in a relationship with a woman. On Wednesday, January 23 Mitchell and the woman were consuming alcohol at the Kumaka waterfront; he was with friends and she was with some men. After some time he (Mitchell) went to her and said, “Let’s go,” but she refused to leave. This resulted in a scuffle between them and she allegedly pulled out a knife to stab him, but he grabbed her hand and tried to pull the knife away which resulted in her getting a gash on one of her fingers.
He then left her and after a while hired a taxi to take him to Koberimo Bridge. On the way the driver, who is known to him, asked him where the woman was. Mitchell replied they had a story and he cut out. When they reached the bridge it was already dark, and the driver asked Mitch, “You think you go mek it? Why not let me drop you to your parents’ home? ” but Mitchell said he would be ok. There was no boat at the bridge and he asked him again how he was going to reach home. Mitchell replied he would make a phone call. The time was 20 minutes to 7 pm when the driver left him. The taxi driver also said Mitchell was not drunk.
The woman left behind at Kumaka reached the bridge some time later. What happened after that is sketchy. However the concerned public would like to know a few things, and a proper investigation would clarify the whole story. Let us assume the woman reached Mitchell at the Koberimo Bridge, then either he or she must have made a phone call for a boat to pick them up. Someone came with a boat, so who was it?
How many left the bridge in the boat to go home and who were they? What time did the boat arrive at the bridge and then leave? What happened during the journey between the bridge and Koberimo landing? What time did the woman reach home that night?
It is rumoured that it was her children who came to collect them that night and it is alleged that the elder daughter has said it was her mother and another person who killed Uncle Pierrie and threw him overboard, but she is afraid to talk. It is alleged that they searched for the body for the rest of the night but did not find him.
Mitchell was a good swimmer, and even if he had accidently fallen overboard he could have swum or held onto something because the creek is small. Mitchell was murdered.
In the light of the foregoing we, the concerned public, are asking the Commissioner of Police to authorise a thorough investigation into the death of microscopist Philbert Mitchell Pierre.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
