The lifeless body of a Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo shop owner was yesterday morning discovered bound and gagged and his home ransacked.
The dead man has been identified as Keith Richard Hohenkirk, 59, an amputee, of Lot 3840, Tuschen Housing Scheme.
Police yesterday said that between Saturday 6.40 pm and Sunday 6.39 am the man was attacked by unknown suspects.
In a report, police said a neighbour went to check on Hohenkirk and as she opened the front door which was not locked, she observed the entire hall and kitchen area ransacked.
Further checks in the bedroom revealed the victim lying motionless on his back with his hands bound with transparent scotch tape and his mouth tied with a piece of brown cloth.
The police were summoned and his body was checked for marks of violence but none was seen.
As news of the Hohenkirk death spread across the neighbourhood yesterday many expressed shock as they related he was kind and friendly to everyone.
“It is really hard and shocking to believe this happen to him. He is a well-known person in this community and always willing to help people. He would give you his last and even lend people money…I don’t know what he did to deserve this,” one resident from the community said.
During the course of the day neighbours and persons known to the now deceased man congregated in front of his home, which was up to yesterday afternoon declared an active crime scene by police, as they expressed shock at his death and shared their last recollections of him.
His stepdaughter, Simone, yesterday told this newspaper that his death is a mystery to her.
“I am still shocked because the neighbours run and come to me this morning when they find him. I was still in bed and when they come I thought he tek in because he is a diabetic. But it was not that, it was to tell me he dead. When I go to the home I saw him lying on the bed,” Simone, who lives a street away explained.
She said that in March, her mother had separated from Hohenkirk and he has been living alone since.
Nonetheless, Simone said they remained in contact and would assist him monthly to go to collect his public assistance and transact his business. She stated that during the course of Saturday, they spoke and made plans to go to conduct some business today.
She related that at the time of the discovery, a resident who was detained by police for questioning was going over “to wash for him. She push the door and saw the house tumble up and then when she check for him she saw him on the bed dead.”
Since his separation from his reputed wife, the neighbour would normally cook and do his laundry.
The stepdaughter related that the attackers gagged the man’s mouth with “a bandage he normally uses and tied his hands up with tape and he even though he has one foot they still tie him up with the netting…they tie up the bare foot and the girl find the pillow on top of him… we don’t know if he was suffocated or what.” Spots of blood were found on his bed, the woman added.
Another neighbour explained that they did not hear any strange noise but noted that rain fell throughout the night. He stated that around 8.30pm he spoke with Hohenkirk and he indicated that he was heading to bed. After that they didn’t hear from him.
It is believed that the man knew his killer/s as there was no sign of forced entry and the door to his home was found open.
The body was escorted to the Leonora Cottage Hospital where it was pronounced dead on arrival. It was then escorted to the Ezekiel Funeral Parlour for storage awaiting a post-mortem examination.
