A Bourda Market labourer was fatally stabbed yesterday morning after being involved in an argument over the sale of a construction net.
The dead man has been identified as Ovid Chester called ‘Bruckie’ or ‘Wannie’, 52, formerly of Vryheid’s Lust, East Coast Demerara. Police yesterday said that the man usually resides in the vicinity of Bourda Market.
Regional Commander of Region Four ‘A’, Assistant Commissioner Simon Mc Bean, yesterday told Stabroek News that from preliminary investigations, Chester was stabbed by a 51-year-old male, a farmer of Block 22, Wismar, Linden.
The suspect was arrested at the scene by police ranks who were on patrol nearby. He was found with a knife, the suspected murder weapon, in his possession
McBean explained that investigations revealed that on September 1, the suspect took a construction net to Bourda Market to sell. While there, the suspect met Chester who offered to sell the item for him and he agreed.
The suspect waited for some time but did not see Chester return, so he eventually left the area.
At around 10 am yesterday, McBean said the suspect returned to the market armed with a knife and went in search of Chester.
Chester was confronted in an alley off Bourda Street near North Road. The suspect questioned Chester about the money from the sale of the construction net. This led to a heated argument during which the suspect pulled out the knife from his waist and stabbed Chester in his chest. Chester ran from the alley and collapsed on Bourda Street.
Vendors yesterday told Stabroek News that they only learnt Chester was stabbed after checking on him when he collapsed. One man told this newspaper that he initially thought that Chester “stumped he toes on that speed hump and fall but when we check we see he bleeding and wasn’t moving.”
Meanwhile, his brother Mark Chester told reporters yesterday that he and a nephew arrived at the scene after receiving a telephone call. The brother recalled that when they arrived they saw his brother lying motionless on the road in a pool of blood. Chester was pronounced dead at the Georgetown Public Hospital. His body is currently at the Lyken Funeral Parlour awaiting an autopsy.
