There have been 86 murders so far this year and 69 of these victims were men.

This is according to statistics compiled by Stabroek News from January 1 to August 31. These figures were derived from murders which would’ve been reported by this newspaper.

Thirty-one persons were killed during shootings; with 29 being men.

There were 33 knife-related killings (these include victims who would’ve been chopped, stabbed or similarly wounded with a sharp implement) and 22 of these victims were male.

Figure One: The Line Chart above shows the number of murders by month up to the end of August 2010.

Figures further indicate that 42 percent of the men murdered were killed with guns, 32 percent with sharp implements and the other 26 percent were murdered either by burning, battering, strangulation, suffocation or drowning.

In comparison, 41 percent of female victims were stabbed to death, 12 percent shot and the others were battered, wounded in some other manner or drowned.

At the end of the first half of this year there were 58 recorded murders. Within the last 62 days (in the second half) there have been 30 killings compared to 25 for the first 62 days in the first half of the year.

The execution-style murders of Vibert Weekes, Nicholas Hoyte, Rajendra Motilall Sonilall, Sidwell Dexter Collins and Jamal Beete (brother of wanted man Tyrone ‘Cobra’ Rowe) are among those murders which sparked much interest and remain unsolved.

Anthony Taylor, who police said was among the attackers at a robbery in Plaisance, East Coast Demerara earlier this month, was shot to death during the incident. Troy Collymore was also wounded on the night of August 5 and succumbed to his wounds two days later.

Details surrounding the incident are still not clear. However, police have since said that Taylor was a key member in a gang being led by Rowe whose picture they recently released to the media.