Police on Tuesday arrested the brother of the surviving reported assailant in the deadly ambush at Mousie Landing on Monday which left two men dead and one injured.
This newspaper has been reliably informed that intense investigations led to the arrest of the suspect’s brother, who police hope will be able to give them information about the suspect’s whereabouts. The brother remained in police custody up to last evening.
In a press release, issued more than a day after the incident, police said that around 12.05 am on Monday Devon Courtman, a dredge owner and miner Clifford Andrews, 19, of Chenapau, North Pakaraima were walking along a roadway at Mousie Landing, Konawaruk when they were attacked by two men.
One of the men, police said, was armed and the duo attempted to rob Courtman and Andrews. During the incident, police said, Courtman “was shot to his chest and killed while Clifford Andrews was struck to his face and shot to his chest and injured.”
One of the assailants, who was identified as Oswald Bourne, 31, of One Mile, Wismar, Linden was fatally shot to his chest and back. The other suspect, police said, managed to escape and police continue to hunt him.
Andrews, who was air-dashed to the city for medical attention, told this newspaper on Tuesday that it was Bourne who had been armed. After the two men attacked them, Andrews said, Courtman, who was also armed was involved in an exchange of gunfire with Bourne. It was during this that the second reported assailant fled.
When Stabroek News visited the Georgetown Public Hospital yesterday afternoon Andrews had been moved from the High Dependency Unit to the Male Surgical Ward; an indication that his medical condition may be improving.
Bourne’s relatives have since denied the reports by police and Andrews. Carl Bourne insists that his dead brother was attacked by Courtman after Andrews told him of an earlier confrontation between himself and Oswald Bourne.
Two Sundays ago, Carl said, his brother woke up and found Andrews in their yard and confronted him. On Sunday night, Courtman and Andrews were drinking in a bar at Mousie Landing when Bourne and a friend (the second reported assailant) entered, Carl reported. It was at this shop that Andrews pointed out Bourne to Courtman. It was shortly after this, Carl said he had learned, that the shooting took place.
Carl also alleged that prior to the incident Courtman had been imbibing alcohol and firing off shots.
However, Courtman’s reputed wife, a Brazilian, has since denied Carl Bourne’s claims. The woman, speaking with Stabroek News via an interpreter, said she had last seen Courtman on Sunday afternoon.
‘He stopped drinking…’
Her husband, the woman communicated through the interpreter, had stopped drinking alcohol months ago because of health problems. As far as she knew he was not a licenced firearm holder nor did he have a gun.
“He stopped drinking several months ago,” she insisted.
At about 3 pm on Sunday, she recalled, Courtman left their camp. He told her that he was going to buy some rations. However, the woman said she later heard that he went to play pools with some friends instead.
She had lived with Courtman for the last two years at Mousie Landing and they had spent a brief time in her hometown Boa Vista, Brazil. Bourne and his partner, she said, had never worked for Courtman at anytime as reported by Andrews. In fact, the woman stressed that Andrews was not her husband’s employee and she could not say whether he was a friend. She further stated that Courtman had never mentioned having a misunderstanding with either Bourne or his accomplice.
She had already turned in for the night when news of her husband’s death reached her. The camp, according to her, is located about 30 to 40 minutes walk from the shop.
“I believe that these men rob and murder my husband,” the woman repeated several times via the interpreter.
Courtman, she said, left the camp with a quantity of cash, a watch and a huge silver chain. These items as well as his long boots were missing.
No gold
Andrews, Stabroek News had learnt from a source, told police that Courtman had been carrying a quantity of gold. The gold, the source said, was split between Andrews and Courtman. The surviving assailant, they’d said, managed to escape with the gold Courtman had been carrying.
However, Courtman’s wife insists that her husband did not leave the camp with gold in his possession. The only items of value he was carrying she stressed, were those which she listed earlier.
An officer close to the investigation has since indicated that Andrews’s story is changing. He is now giving police a different account of what happened on the Mousie Landing road.
This newspaper has been unable to confirm whether Courtman was the holder of a firearm licence. Several attempts made to contact Crime Chief Seelall Persaud for a comment yesterday were futile.
Meanwhile, Courtman’s wife said that she has not had a chance to meet his family. He was planning to introduce her next month. The woman is asking that anyone related to Courtman contact her on 698-2794.
“I need to lay him to rest in his home country and I don’t want to do so without his family there… I just want to leave this place now. I am going home to Boa Vista,” she said.
