Paulette Wade, the midwife whose lifeless body was discovered on the floor of her Kwakwani home last Friday, was strangled and bludgeoned to the head, and three men from her community have since been arrested.
Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh, who conducted the post-mortem examination yesterday, listed the cause of Wade’s death as asphyxiation due to manual strangulation compounded by blunt trauma to the head.
Prior to the autopsy, Wade’s relatives were adamant that the woman was a victim of foul play and that she had not suffered an epileptic seizure as police would have initially considered.
Stabroek News was informed that three men from the area have since been taken into custody and they are said to be assisting with investigations.
Enquiries revealed that Wade, 37, also called ‘P,’ of Kwakwani Park, Upper Berbice River, and her daughter had retired to bed around 9 pm last Thursday evening. However, when the child awakened around 6.30 the next morning, she found her mother’s motionless body. This newspaper understands that she called out for her mother but after the woman did not respond, the child left the home to notify a neighbour. This prompted the neigbour to visit the Kwakwani Hospital compound, where she told the security guard, who in turn informed staff at the hospital.
The police were also informed and in the company of a doctor and nurses from the hospital ventured to the woman’s home, where the doctor subsequently pronounced Wade dead.
Both Wade’s body, which was discovered lying face down on a concrete floor clad in her sleeping clothes, and the scene were examined by police. The examination uncovered small bruises on one of the woman’s elbows as well as blood on her mouth. A closer examination revealed that the deceased bit her tongue. There was no sign of forced entry, nor were there signs that the house had been ransacked.
