Men in two vehicles were involved in the murder of clothes vendor Raphael Piggott on Saturday in Cummings Lodge, another execution-style case.
The pregnant reputed wife of Piggott, who was in the vehicle at the time, yesterday said she didn’t see the murderer, just a small hand gun in his hands that fired two bullets into the back of the vendor killing him almost instantaneously.
The woman yesterday told Stabroek News that they had returned from Suriname, where they had gone to do some Christmas shopping and her husband was dropping off his friend, who had accompanied them, at his Sixth Street, Cummings Lodge home when tragedy struck. She was sitting in the front seat while the friend was in the back seat.
A release from the police yesterday said that they are investigating the incident which occurred at around 5:15 pm on Saturday.
Raphael Piggott
Speaking from their Guy-hoc Park home, the woman said that they had reached the lot where the friend was to be dropped off but he had not exited as yet as her husband wanted to turn the car around. She said she knew something was wrong when Piggott reversed the car in a rash manner and when he turned the car around she saw him look through the window.
“So I look through the window and is then I see this man come out a car with a gun in he hand,” the woman said. She said before she could react the man fired two shots hitting her husband in the back. Piggott’s foot was on the accelerator and after he was shot he accelerated and the car pulled off at a very fast speed.
Twenty-six-year-old Piggott was in no position to control the car which eventually came to halt in the yard of the Trooper Taxi Service in Sixth Street after ramming the fence.
“Both of us had on seat belt so I was trying to reach over to get the wheel but with the seat belt it was hard. After the car stop I jump out and run around and try to open he door but it was hard. Some men then come and help open the door and tek he out and they say a bus coming to carry he to the hospital,” the young woman said. She said that she remained with her husband all the time and she tried talking to him even as blood gushed from his wounds. The woman said her husband made no sound after being shot. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the St Joseph Mercy Hospital.
King said after her husband was shot and the car crashed she never saw his friend again until she went to the police station to give a statement.
That’s because, according to the friend, after the car stopped “I just open the door and I gone, I ent come out back until the police come because me ent know if them men still went around.” Speaking to Stabroek News, the man, who did not want to be named, said like Piggott’s wife he only knew something was wrong by the fast rate his friend reversed the car. He said when he looked through his window he saw the gunman running alongside the car with the gun in his hand and even before he realised what was happening the shots were fired. The man, who is a miner said, as Piggott slumped over the steering wheel with his foot still on the accelerator and the car raced out of control, he stretched forward and attempted to control the wheel to no avail.
It is not clear whether the car was trailing Piggott but from all indications it was not lying in wait for the man, according to residents in the area. And residents also reported that two cars were utilized in the murderous attack since when the man exited one car another car with two occupants was also parked in the area. They both sped off after the shooting. Residents said the cars were white and blue in colour.
And while the woman said her husband, who walks and sells clothes and spare parts and also works his car sometimes as a taxi, does not have a problem with anyone, his mother, Ena Piggott, said that he had a serious feud with a former brother-in-law. How-ever, the woman said it was about four years ago. While not pointing fingers the woman said it is something worth investigating since as far as she knows her son, who she described as a “loving and peaceful child”, did not have a problem with anyone else. She recalled that her son had called her and told her he had just arrived from Suriname and that she should visit his home and wait for him. “I tell he I can’t come but I wanted to surprise he so I was here waiting for him when I get the news,” the woman said.
Other than his wife and his mother Piggott has also left seven siblings to mourn his death. The man had fathered two children with another woman but both died at ages seven years and a year and a half respectively.
Execution-style
Piggott’s death has reinforced the point that execution-style killings are back. His death follows closely on the heels of 25-year-old Alicia Foster who was shot in the face last month, minutes after she drove up to her David Street, Kitty home. While she was waiting on her sister to open the gate to drive into the yard she was approached by a man who demanded that she exit the car. She was then shot in the face and pulled from the vehicle. Her assailant then jumped into her car and drove away while his accomplice also fled the scene. The day after the shooting the woman’s car PHH 2236 was found abandoned at Well Road, North Ruimveldt minus the keys.
And on March 21 this year gunmen executed a Charles-town man at Laing Avenue in a well-planned drive-by attack. George Barton called ‘Burlin’, 48, of 34 Howes Street, Charlestown was shot in front of his daughter. The man’s killers were reportedly trailing him since he left his Charlestown home. They crept up on him from the opposite end of Laing Avenue, which is a long stretch of road running east to west from Cemetery Road, East La Penitence to Hunter Street, Yarrow Dam, and shot and killed him on the spot.
Another execution-style killing occurred on May 14 of this year when Arjune Singh was shot at a roadblock. He had stopped at the roadblock block set up on Middleton Street by two police officers who were checking documents. Within minutes, a car pulled up alongside the checkpoint, a gunman disembarked and a fusillade erupted.
And on December 1 last year Pastor Ian David was also shot and killed execution-style. There were suggestions that Pastor David was executed over a private matter and that robbery was not the motive. The pastor of Prophecy One Deliverance Ministry in Hadfield Street, Lodge, was shot after a gunman stormed into the church. David was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he died while receiving treatment. The pastor was shot to the back of his head and the upper back while lying face down as ordered by the gunman.
And on June 7 last year Navin Serrao died after armed men drove up alongside his car and pumped several bullets into him on Thomas Lands.
This incident is indeed tragic and FRIGHTENING at the same time. The trend in GY is to settle grievances by the “barrel of a gun”. This was not a random killing. It was properly planned and executed and the victim appears to know his attacker by his efforts to escape. It was payback for something this individual did. The brother-in-law should be considered a “person of interest” because he may have set up the “hit”. But why wait four years – just curious. Also, I’m a bit perplexed over the reputed wife observation of the incident. She stated that “she didn’t see the murderer, just a small hand gun in his hands.” But when she was interviewed at home she stated ‘So I look through the window and is then I see this man come out a car with a gun in he hand.” I could understand that IT MAY be difficult for her to positively ID the killer in a police line up but to say you did not SEE the killer is incorrect. You were there. And for his friend to bolt as he lay mortally wounded, is a crying shame. It appears a trend in emerging in GY where men are running away and leaving their victims to suffer the consequences.
Excellent analysis SWAT.
You sure swatted the fly! I agree with you 100 percent.
I think most of us bloggers here suspect there is a darker side to this incident. Guyana is in a big-big fix….
Good eye for connecting the dots there SWAT!
In my opinion she was correct when she said she didn’t see her husband get shot, Piggott was shot in the back after he turned the car around and started to drive off. If she had a chance to see the men coming towards the car it had to be before the shots were fired. So she may have seen the men exit the car with gun in hand, but not the shooting…… unless she was looking backward at the time the shots were fired.
Very sad crime wave though, why do these men with guns think it’s free for all to solve their arguements with guns blasting?
Come on GPF and Joint Services, get these guns out of the hands of these killers!
At this time of grief, i would like to extend heartfelt sympathy to the Piggot family. On the other hand … i would investegate the friend thouroghally. Maybe, just maybe, he can tell us something tangable.
Idont kbowif its drug related bbut most hit are really drug related
I hope the police catch the pertpitrator and bring them to court of law for justice
The friend should be checed out by the police
My condolences to the family
fellow Guyanese, you folks need to dump the PPP Civic next election, Jagdeo only running around …he is not a leader, quit voting race.
thanks rasta man, you’re officially now an independent , congrats
AGREE GOVERNMENT NEED TO GO NOW IF THE CANNOT PROTECT THE CITIZENS THEN THE MUST GO.
rasta , I am tired of people talking about voting race. For your information, guyanese of ALL races belong to ALL the political parties. Get off that race talk and say something positive, like the relevant agencies getting off their chairs and doing their job. Too many crimes have been swept under the carpet and ALL RACES have suffered. stop this race talk.
Burnham and Hoyte were both presidents of Guyana, so why this talk of racial voting.
PPP/CIVIC is multi racial party RASTA so come on board
That why Guyana need an Obama. Someone that can unite, the people.
having 8Kg OF WHITE GOLD IN THE GAS TANK, is an honest hard working guyanese.
Times are tough in Guyana as it is around the world. Our porus borders, high rates of unemployment, globalization, poverty, lack of a strong police force, an incompetent government, low citizen morale etc. are all factors in the state of Guyana. I pray for my family and friends who have to survive these terrible times. I see no change in the near future…….Guyana needs help even if it comes from outside our land. We were once a proud and caring society.
My condolences goes out to the piggot’s family, hope you find the strenght and courage to carry on. I’ve noticed that white cars are the preferrable cars of these assasins.
My condolences to the relatives and friends. Guess Guyana’s population will continue to decline in this manner until either of these three things happen. Either people find another method to settle disagreements. The Law enforcement section in its recent resurgence find a way to capture and prosecute the perpetrators. The judicial system handing down harsh punitive sentences that would deter the commission of these acts.
It’s sad to see the young people, the future of tomorrow are killed in Guyana. I urge both the government and his people to come together and solve the matter before the situation get worse.
Why not have a spacial tax just to fight crime. I know there is alot of taxes in Guyana but I rather pay $10 extra than to lose the love one!
Furthermore, camera is need allover that land. Let forget little bit about privacy, killers have to be exposed!
amen-ra, you don’t know what you are talking about. where do you think the phrase “kick down the door bandits” come from? let me tell you, in the 80’s. i can remember when people were bringing people from georgetown and linden to rob people in essequibo coast in the 80’s. we were not getting no assistance from the police because some of them were suspected of being involved. you know how we solved that problem? we formed vigilante groups all over essequibo coast. i can tell you that problem was quickly solved when some of these bandits were caught and given some good cut-tail and handed over to the police.
Well quiban,I would suggest you go to Guyana,and form vigilante groups,if you think that would be as effective with this type of criminal that has sprung up under this administration,as it was with those”kick down” bandits of the 80s…..why don’t some of you get real eh? This new breed of bandit that we have now in Guyana could NOT…and I stress the word NOT survive under the Burnham government,because the GPF in those days had to perform,I don’t care how much crime you say there was in those days….the GPF were able to handle the criminals,and if they did’nt Sweety Man did!!!!!
i know what i’m talking about i know of the kick down doors bandits in the 80’s but it wasnt as rampant as it is now, no one wasnt getting killed in broad daylight as it is now, now mass murders was there in the 80’s and 14 and 16yrs old werent being recruited by the criminals and i can go on and on drugs wasnt rampant as of now so what you talkin abt compare the 80’s to now was a cake walk bro.
The law need to sentence people to death because people shooting people like when u playing war break.