Two persons from the gay community were during the wee hours of this morning brutally stabbed to death at separate city locations by a man who later confessed to the killings and committed suicide by torching himself.
The stabbed two are Carlyle Sinclair of Vergenoegen and Jason John Samuel of Alberttown. The alleged self-confessed killer is Samuel Bristol, 31, of Nabaclis, East Coast Demerara. He died after he doused himself with a flammable liquid shortly after and set himself alight.
Police from the Stabroek Market Outpost and Brickdam Station, responding to a report of a stabbing on Lombard Street, found Sinclair lying on the sidewalk with multiple stab wounds. Only minutes after another report was made that a body was lying in a pool of blood on Leopold Street about 20 feet from High Street. There, Samuels’s body was found also with several stab wounds.
Sex workers from various parts of the city converged at both scenes.
It was only this morning around 6 that it was found out that the alleged killer was the jilted ex-partner of one of their colleagues and was angry because the relationship had been broken off.
One sex worker from near the St George’s Cathedral told Stabroek News at the scene this morning that the two murdered men were not linked nor did they share a relationship. The duo knew each other and would work in the same area and as such were friends as the community shares a close bond.
The sex worker said that there had been no known rivalry between the dead two.
Further, the woman related that late Saturday night there was an argument between a man and one of her co-workers at the St George’s Cathedral location where she had to intervene and the fuming man left, threatening to kill everyone. The man at the time had a flammable liquid in a bottle and had attempted to douse some of the workers at the location with it. She opined that it was possible that it was the same man who later killed the two.
Staff at the GPHC said the badly burnt Samuel was rushed to the institution and while being attended to loudly confessed to the killings claiming he had nothing else to live for.
Persons living in the area where the killings occurred told this newspaper that they heard no unusual sounds or screams during the night. One resident said that he found it strange that no screams were heard as Leopold Street was home to several Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LBGT) persons and they normally would “look out” for each other. As such if one felt threatened a cry for help would see many persons rushing to render assistance.
The police said that up to 2am they were questioning several persons as their investigations continue. The police also pointed out that there are CCTV cameras near to the locations of the murders but that it is unclear if they are working as most are not.
The two stabbed men were described by friends as kind and hardworking who never got into altercations. Dozens of sex workers were present at the scene lamenting the shocking deaths. A close friend of Sinclair fainted before she saw the body as blood had begun to wash the Leopold Street area.
Police were also at the GPHC this morning continuing investigations.
