A month after he was arrested for questioning in relation to the murder of his teenage daughter, Rainsford Benfield says he is losing confidence in the police solving the crime.
“Let me tell you something based on what I went through and the bundle of stupidness the police asked me, I am now beginning to lose confidence in the police force solving the crime…..I am very, very dissatisfied with the pace of how they dealing with this matter”, Rainsford recently told Stabroek News.
Rainsford, his wife and teen daughter were taken into custody on May 5 for questioning in connection with Rainella Benfield’s murder. They were released on their own recognizance after the police were unable to gather any new information to implicate them in the crime.
The lifeless body of Rainella, 17, of Lot 99 Canterbury Walk, Beterverwagting (BV), East Coast Demerara, was discovered in the cemetery at Triumph on December 11th, 2017.
At the time, her body was face up between two tombs in the cemetery, which is located on the eastern side of the Beterverwagting Police Station. Her hands were on her stomach and her pants were pulled below her hips. Her face appeared to have been smashed in.
An autopsy revealed that Rainella, who was a telephone operator at Qualfon’s Goedverwagting call centre, died as a result of crushing injuries to her face, which were inflicted by a blunt object. The report, also indicated that she was alive when the injuries were inflicted.
In a recent interview with Stabroek News, Rainsford said he believes that the arrest of him, his wife and daughter was based on ‘hearsay’.
He explained that during the period he was detained, the police put various stories to him but he maintained his innocence since he was in no way involved in the death of his daughter.
“They aint got nothing good, they aint got nothing concrete…they accuse me of having a sexual affair with meh daughter and seh because of that mek she wanted to go out and duh mek I kill she”, he said, while adding, “then they turn back and accuse me of having some link with some Venezuelan group that I use to carry me daughter to and that how is them and me kill she, the group and me kill she. Then they turn back and say that I go to work at 11 o’ clock leave work and then go and kill she”.
He related that the police told him that Rainella wasn’t killed in the cemetery but it was rather used as a dumping site. “..Now the very police turning back and accusing me of killing she in Triumph burial ground…killing my daughter in the burial ground”, he said.
The frustrated father said that he was surprised at the sudden twist in the probe. “You know if the police did arrest me one or two weeks after my daughter death I could have understand that yes they carrying out an investigation but you gonna wait almost five months and you can’t get evidence directing them or pointing them to the direction of the killer/killers that they turn back to the father, the parents in fact, the family”, Rainsford stated indignantly. He said although he was released, he was ordered to report to the police every day. “As far as I concern the interest is in me…they wasting meh time”, he said.
He explained that persons in the community have been viewing him differently since his arrest. “If they believe and they have the evidence, give the police the evidence then, help them to solve the case”, he said.
The grieving father said that he was made the victim twice. “I lost my daughter and now there is a stain on me that I kill my daughter”, Rainsford said. “…I don’t care what they do or say but I will not stop till justice is served. I will not stop, the matter will not die”, Rainsford added.
He is therefore urging the police to pursue members of a WhatsApp group named LLC (Love, Care and Comfort) of which Rainella was a member other than targeting him. “As I said before, I am firmly convinced that the group know something about my daughter death”, said Rainsford.
He further related that he has been hearing a lot of rumours since his daughter’s death most of which is associated with this particular group. “Before my daughter died I never follow up the group but after my daughter died when I start digging you hearing a lot of things about the group”, he noted.
He explained that he was aware that Rainella was part of the group but he never took it this seriously.
A police source related to Stabroek News that while the investigation into the matter is ongoing, there has been no recent development.
