Just over two years after Deon Manderson was stabbed to death and his killer went on the run, the dead man’s family is still seeking closure.
Manderson, 31, was killed on October 21, 2012 at a ‘Bar-b-que and Lime’ at Back Circle, East Ruimveldt.
Manderson had been enjoying himself when a man reportedly stepped up to him and dealt him a fatal stab before escaping. This man has yet to be seen again.
Since then, Manderson’s family has been living with the scar of his death and remember him daily. He is particularly missed by his five children.
In an interview with Stabroek News, Manderson’s common-law wife Patricia Aulder explained that the dead man had been a good provider for his children, both financially and emotionally. Though Manderson only fathered Aulder’s five year old daughter, he nevertheless loved all of the children equally.
“His daughter misses her father a lot,” Aulder said. The girl had been only three-years-old when her father was killed but nevertheless remembered his affection, including one incident when she fell and he kissed her bruised knee.
“She remembers the good things and she says, ‘Me Daddy been love me,’” Aulder fondly said. She continued, “She doesn’t cry much anymore but from time to time she would cry out for him. She’s well taken care by her father’s family, though, so she’s really loved and it doesn’t affect her as much.”
However, Manderson’s love extended to the other children as well. “The children remember him as a good person; he was never bad to them,” Aulder explained. She went on, “Times like birthdays, Christmas time, any event where family usually spend a lot of time together, we miss him.”
She further said that Manderson had always been patient with his family and tried his hardest not to have the children see him upset. “He was really, really good to them, I’m not going to lie. If we had problems, he wouldn’t act up in front of them or row.”
Though the family has been coping well with Manderson’s death so far, Aulder explained that she still sometimes struggles with it all. She recalled the night of her partner’s murder. “I was home and my phone rang and my niece called and told me how she heard he got stab up and he dead. I started hollering and screaming because everyone has to die but to die so foolishly?” she questioned. “It really affected me for a while but I’m trying to move on; I’m trying day to day to do it, if not for me then for my children.”
She further said, “I have a daughter that looks like him. So, every time I see her, I see him; but you got to be strong when you have children, you know?”
Since the stabbing, the man who reportedly committed the deed has been on the run. According to Manderson’s sister Denise Williams, the family had received word that the man, simply known as ‘Ducas,’ had last been in Cayenne, French Guiana.
This information had been available since 2012 and the family had been in regular contact with the police; in once instance the police had visited the accused killer’s home but he had not been there. As time passed, however, contact with the police dwindled until it eventually stopped sometime last year. Williams questioned why the police had never issued a wanted bulletin for ‘Ducas.’ “They ain’t give me no satisfaction,” Williams said.
