Four persons including three juveniles were yesterday remanded to prison after they were charged jointly with the murder of Keith Hohenkirk, the shopkeeper who was found bound and gagged in his Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) home on Sunday.
Collin Jackman called ‘Junior’, 20, a mason and the three juveniles, ages 17, 17 and 15 appeared before Magistrate Zamilla Ally-Seepaul at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court.
They were not required to plead to the indictable charge which stated that between Saturday and Sunday they murdered Hohenkirk at his Tuschen Housing Scheme, EBE home.
The three juveniles were remanded to the Juvenile Hold-ing Centre while Jackman was remanded to prison.
The matter was adjourned to December 1st.
Police received legal advice on Wednesday to charge the quartet with murder.
One of the juveniles is a 17-year-old girl. She and her mother were the first suspects who were detained by the police for questioning.
During questioning, the teenager reportedly provided investigators with a statement admitting her role in planning and participating in the robbery of Hohenkirk with the three others.
Her mother was released from custody without being charged.
The three males were arrested on Tuesday. They hail from Tuschen, EBE. One of them is a student.
The lifeless body of Hohenkirk was discovered on Sunday morning at his Tuschen Housing Scheme home.
It is suspected that the 59-year-old shopkeeper was attack-ed sometime between 6.40 pm on Saturday and 6.39 am on Sunday.
An autopsy revealed that Hohenkirk died as a result of haemorrhaging in the brain due to blunt trauma to the head along with compression injuries to the neck.
In a report, police had said a neighbour went to check on Hohenkirk and as she opened the front door which was not locked, she observed that the entire hall and kitchen area had been 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.
Hohenkirk’s stepdaughter, Simone, had 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.
