After managing to elude the police for almost a year Shivanand Roopnarine was yesterday arrested and police say he has since confessed to stabbing his girlfriend, Alicia McPherson, to death.
Roopnarine, called ‘Shiv’ and ‘Tuck,’ whose last known address was Lot 478 School Street, Grove Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara, is accused of stabbing McPherson, 18, about 42 times about her body on April 20th, 2015.
Her body was found in a pool of blood behind a toilet at a dance held in ‘B’ Field Sophia, shortly after Roopnarine was seen assaulting her. There were visible stab wounds to her temple and neck.
The police had initially issued a wanted bulletin for him in May, 2015.
Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum told Stabroek News that Roopnarine was arrested yesterday morning at the checkpoint at Mabura en route to Mahdia.
He initially provided the police with a wrong name and had denied the offence. However, he was brought to Georgetown and questioned by detectives and admitted to the crime.
A police source told Stabroek News that the suspect, during a detailed confession to detectives, admitted that on the night of the attack he and McPherson went to a dance, where she saw another man, with whom she started to dance.
As a result, he became annoyed and requested that they leave for home but she refused and started to hit him. He told investigators that he then took her behind the bathroom area, where he inflicted multiple stab wounds about her body. He added that he then disposed of the knife by throwing it over a nearby fence before escaping.
Roopnarine was taken to the crime scene late yesterday afternoon by investigators in hopes of recovering the murder weapon.
