Police have arrested the suspected mastermind behind the murders of Constance Fraser, 89, and Phyllis Caesar, 77, who were killed last Tuesday in their South Road and Albert Street home.
Police spokesman Shivpersaud Bacchus yesterday confirmed that the arrest of the mastermind was made in ‘G’ Division.
According to Bacchus, police from the ‘A’ and ‘G’ (Essequibo Islands) divisions acted on information and pursued the mastermind leading to his capture.
In a statement issued, police said ranks went to Karawab, Pomeroon River located 65 miles from Charity, Essequibo Coast, where they arrested the prime suspect.
Police Commander of ‘A’ Division, Marlon Chapman said the 37-year-old suspect, who uses the aliases Christopher Persaud, Christopher Narine and Imran Khan, is currently in police custody assisting with investigations.
Bacchus further said that the two other suspects who remain in police custody are likely to make an appearance in court today.
Two of the four suspects have admitted their involvement in the crime.
A police source told Stabroek News that the suspects provided investigators with statements detailing how the killings were committed.
The four suspects, including a woman who is said to be the partner of the alleged mastermind of the crime, were arrested between Wednesday and Thursday.
Fraser and Caesar, of Lot 243 South Road and Albert Street, Georgetown, were discovered around 9.30 am on Tuesday by members of their church, the South Road Full Gospel Assembly, after several efforts made to contact them proved futile.
At the time of the discovery, their bodies were in separate bedrooms. Their hands and feet were bound and they were both gagged.
Autopsies performed by government pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh on the remains of the women revealed that they both died as a result of asphyxiation due to suffocation and manual strangulation, compounded by trauma to the head.
It is suspected that they had been the victims of a robbery sometime between Monday evening and Tuesday morning, since the house was completely ransacked and several items were reported missing.
The door to the upper flat of the two-storey house was also discovered open and it is believed that the suspect/s might have gained entry to the house by climbing onto the verandah.
Stabroek News was previously told that it was customary for Caesar to open the church every morning. However, church members sensed that something was amiss on Tuesday morning when she did not turn up to carry out her duties. As a result, they made several calls to her and visited the home but got no answer. They then noticed the door to the verandah open and upon checking they saw the bodies. The police were immediately summoned.
Fraser was a retiree while Caesar was the caretaker of the church and also worked at a private school located a short distance away from the home.
