The police say that two men who aided the escape of notorious murder convict, Royden `Smallie’ Williams from the Mazaruni Prison had hired a boat from Parika and then commandeered it to carry out the daring operation on the Mazaruni River.
According to police sources, on Thursday at about 3.45 pm, two men including a former murder accused hired a boat from Parika, owned and piloted by a Tuschen operator. They stated that they were heading to Itaballi landing. Besides rations and kerosene they had with them a suitcase which was later found to contain three rifles.
Along the journey, the police say that they stopped the boat a short distance from Karrau Village where they proceeded to open the suitcase which revealed three rifles. They then tied up the boat operator and told him that he should cooperate with whatever instructions were given to him. They slept there through the night. The following morning (yesterday) about 4.30, they instructed him to navigate to an area close to the Mazaruni Prison where one man disembarked the boat with one of the rifles. The boat operator was then instructed by the former murder accused to return to where they slept and to wait.
At about 2.15 pm yesterday, the boat operator heard rapid gunfire and the former murder accused instructed him to move in the direction of the beach area at the Mazaruni Prison. The boat operator said that he saw two men plunge into the water and then swim to the boat. He recognized one to be the escapee and the other, the man that he had earlier dropped off. He was then instructed to go further up the Mazaruni River.
In the vicinity of BK Quarry his engine seized and the three men exited the boat with their belongings, each now carrying a rifle. They threatened him not to report it to the Police and departed into the bushes, police source say.
