Two years after businesswoman Sirmattie Ramnaress was murdered and her Diamond, East Bank Demerara home set alight, police on Friday night made a breakthrough in the investigation when ranks arrested a suspect who was in possession of two of the items which were stolen during the execution of the crime.
Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum yesterday afternoon confirmed the arrest which he said occurred in the Diamond area and was intelligence-led. He said the suspect was found in possession of a laptop computer belonging to the victim and he later led investigators to a diamond ring he had given to his girlfriend, which was also the property of Ramnaress.
At the time Blanhum was speaking to Stabroek News, the suspect was being interviewed by CID ranks.
Ramnaress, 36, was found dead on the morning of August 31, 2013 with a stab wound and injuries to her head and body in the garage of her Lot 2430 21st Street, Diamond home. While petrol was strewn all over her house, it was the bond at the back of the yard that was set alight and destroyed. The woman’s body was discovered after the fire service was called about the fire
Stabroek News was informed that the suspect has provided details of how the crime was committed and has implicated the now dead Paul Bascom.
Bascom was one of two men shot dead by police in a yard at Golden Grove, East Bank Demerara, in December. This area sits adjacent to Diamond.
Police officials had said that Bascom, 26, and Alberto Grant, 28, were killed in the yard of a gold miner who was their intended target. Police, acting on information, were on a stakeout and as the men were about to carry out their plan there was an exchange of gunfire with police. Both men sustained gunshot wounds to their faces.
Police said too that a .38 snub-nose revolver with two live rounds and two spent shells, along with one 9mm round and two 7.62 x 39mm rounds were recovered by the police.
According to what this newspaper was told yesterday the suspect told investigators that Bascom was the mastermind behind the killing of Ramnaress.
He told investigators that the businesswoman was familiar with Bascom as she had sometimes hired him to do handyman work for her. The suspect claimed that hours before the murder Bascom and two other men slept at his house which is located in the same Diamond area where Ramnaress lived. It was apparently there that a plan was devised to lure the woman out of her heavily secured home and rob her of her valuables. It would appear that the intent was to rob Ramnaress and not kill her.
Based on what this newspaper was told Bascom went to the fence and informed Ramnaress that he had spotted a snake in her yard. Given her fear and the fact that she was alone, she opened up her gate to give Bascom access to her yard to look for the reptile.
Stabroek News was informed that after Bascom entered his three accomplices sneaked in behind him.
Investigators were told that the businesswoman was then attacked and after she began to scream she was killed. A post-mortem examination had determined that she died as a result of a ruptured spleen and brain haemorrhaging.
The quartet then ransacked the house before fleeing.
Ramnaress was very security-conscious and had surveillance cameras all around her home. Those who knew her said before she opened her electronic gate, she always first checked the cameras to identify visitors. It was suspected that she must have known her killer(s) and let the person(s) in. Surveillance footage from her master bedroom went missing and it was suspected that whoever stole it would have had intimate knowledge of its location since it was kept in a secured place.
Following the killing, fingers were pointed at Police Sergeant Colin Bailey with whom Ramnaress had shared a 21-year relationship.
In an interview with Stabroek News earlier this year he had said that it hurt him to know that people still believe he killed Ramnaress. He spoke of his own colleagues pointing fingers at him but said he tried to ignore the comments made.
The man insisted that he had nothing to do with the murder adding that if the police investigated in-depth they would find those responsible.
Another piece of the puzzle was how the woman’s car ended up abandoned at Liliendaal on the East Coast Demerara. Investigators had worked with the theory that it was used as a getaway vehicle by the person/s who committed the murder.
