Autopsies conducted yesterday failed to establish the cause of death of Richie Hansraj and Justin Teixeira, the two men whose lifeless bodies were discovered in a vehicle in the Marriott hotel parking lot, Kingston on Saturday morning.
Director of the Guyana Police Force’s (GPF) Cor-porate Communications Unit, Mark Ramotar yesterday confirmed the finding of the autopsies which were performed yesterday morning by Government Pathologist, Dr Nehaul Singh.
Ramotar said stomach contents were removed from both bodies and handed over to police investigators. They will be sent overseas for toxicological testing.
The bodies were discovered in Teixeira’s vehicle, PAC 2607, around 00.15h by a hotel staffer. Teixeira was a guest at the hotel.
The GPF in a press statement had said that ranks of the Brickdam Police Station were summoned to the scene.
On arrival, a hotel worker related to them that around 23.30h last Friday, he received a call from Teixeira’s mother, who related that he was experiencing a seizure, the police said. The mother requested that someone check on him.
As a result, the worker told the police that he immediately dispatched another employee to check on Teixeira, who was staying on the sixth floor. However, his room was empty.
“The employee then went to Teixeira’s vehicle, where he observed Teixeira sitting in the driver’s seat. All of the windows of the vehicle were half-way down,” the release stated.
It noted that the employee then opened the front passenger door of the vehicle and discovered Hansraj, sitting in a crouched position. Both men appeared to be motionless, the police added.
After the police were summoned, the men were pronounced dead at the scene. There were no visible marks of violence on their bodies.
Investigators found a container with a “whitish, hard” substance, originally believed to be narcotics, in the back seat of the vehicle.
While it was initially suspected that the two men may have overdosed on a drug, an official from the Guyana Forensic Science Laboratory (GFSL) later informed the police that the substance found in the car is suspected to be sodium cyanide, which can be fatal in small doses.
However, the GFSL said it does not possess the capability to conduct testing to confirm the suspicion. As a result, samples will have to be sent to an overseas laboratory for further testing.
Hansraj celebrated his birthday last Wednesday and was scheduled to get engaged on May 7.
His father, Chunilall Hansraj previously told this newspaper that Richie and his partner legally married in December last year but the engagement was being held for his friends and family to celebrate after which he had planned to travel overseas for his wedding.
Chunilall related that his son left home around 22:00h last Friday. He told his mother he was going out but did not provide any details.
Hours later, Chunilall received a call from a male individual who informed him that his son was dead.
Chunilall had related that Teixeira was no stranger to the family. Like everyone else, he said the death of his son has left him searching for answers. He said Richie was known to be an individual who was always jovial and he never showed any signs of having any problems or being depressed.
Richie was a local musician/singer of Hague, West Coast Demerara while Teixeira, 34, lived in Republic Park, East Bank Demerara.
Meanwhile, American Airlines (AA) yesterday said that Teixeira was not an employee of the airline.
In a statement to Stabroek News, AA spokesperson Laura Masvidal, International Communications said “We have verified and can confirm that the individual (Teixeira) mentioned was not, and has never been, an American Airlines employee”.
The report by the police on Teixeira’s death had described him as a flight attendant with the airline.
