Huntley Mickle’s family was expecting him to return home before the New Year, but not the way he did.
The 41-year-old man of Matthew Allen Road, New Amsterdam was presented to his family including his mother who had not seen him for over two years, in a body bag.
Mickle was reportedly ‘sporting’ with a colleague on Boxing Day at Ikawan up the Cuyuni River, when an argument erupted which climaxed with Mickle being doused with gasoline and set alight.
According to one of Mickle’s older brothers, Collie Mickle, the man had journeyed to Ikawan some nine months ago to work as a shopkeeper at the request of a friend.
The older Mickle said it was the owners of the shop who informed the family of Mickle’s demise. They were told that while drinking with a man on Boxing Day, both men became “high on spirits” and started “hard talking against one another”. It was while teasing each other, the conversation got out of hand and the alleged arsonist took offence to what was being said and threatened Mickle.
“The man like he couldn’t bear it so he said I gone come back to you tonight. So it’s a premeditated act, it was murder,” Collie Mickle stated.
He said it was also related to them that though the man and his brother “had it out ding-dong and he tell him he will come back for him the night,” onlookers did not take the threat seriously because both men were intoxicated.
Collie Mickle further disclosed it was a norm for his brother to imbibe alcohol in large quantities, and that was in fact the reason why he was nicknamed ‘Max’. “They call him ‘Max’ because when he takes his lil drinks he does start make noise and behave rowdy; so they say he mad because he does cry for his mother.” Nevertheless, Collie Mickle said his brother was always a happy drunk. “When he drinking he does be alright – he does make you laugh and get you busy, you got to hold him to do everything, but he does do it for fun.” So he cannot grasp why his brother’s killer could have taken offence from the jesting.
Reports indicate that when the shop owners and Mickle retired to bed for the night, the man with whom he had argued earlier returned to enact his revenge for being tantalized.
The older Mickle said he was told “the dog was attacking the man when he show up at the shop the night and they want know why the dog keep barking so my brother went and investigate.” He opined that his brother had probably forgotten he was threatened earlier and ventured outside without a care in the world. “From since he opened the door, the man douse him with gasoline and scratch the match and run away,” Collie Mickle said.
Shaking his head in an effort to comprehend the gruesome act meted out to his brother, he stated, “couple seconds after, people hear my brother hollering and when they open the door and go outside they see this big ball of fire running to ketch the water side. He didn’t reach. He fall down and start roll and that’s when people collect a hammock, catch him and roll him in it to out it.”
While being set alight is a terrible act in itself, Collie Mickle believes the greater crime committed against his brother was the refusal by some Brazilians to render assistance and offer his brother medical care.
“The Brazilians were nearby and could have helped but when approached they said they not getting involved,” he bemoaned, noting that had they helped his brother would probably still be alive.
The remote location where the incident took place made it difficult to get transportation to bring Mickle out of the interior and to Bartica for medical attention. It took approximately fourteen hours to get him out and by that time he had succumbed to his injuries.
Questioning why the Brazilians refused to render assistance, he mused, “It wasn’t any money story or no girl story, is just hard talk and he get vex and do my brother that. So they could have helped.”
Mickle last saw his mother who resides in the USA two years ago and was making plans to come out of the interior to visit with her as she is vacationing in Guyana.
According to his brother, he decided to work until after Christmas to have enough money to give to his two daughters. He was scheduled to be in the capital city on Saturday.
Mickle, the tenth of 12 children, was described as being trustworthy and well liked.
He was a technician by profession, but worked in the interior for several years doing different odd jobs.
The police have dispatched a team of ranks to Ikawan, Cuyuni River, to conduct investigations into the incident.
