The wife of murdered US-based Guyanese Abdul Majid was arrested on Sunday shortly after she arrived in the country and police are treating her as the prime suspect in his slaying.
Stabroek News was reliably informed that the woman, who had travelled back to the US after telling the man’s relatives that he had gone to Suriname for a visit, returned to Guyana and turned up at the New Amsterdam Police Station. The woman told investigators she had heard that her husband was killed. It was at this point that she was detained.
Crime Chief Seelall Persaud yesterday confirmed that the woman, a brother-in-law and a Berbice woman were in police custody assisting with investigations.
He said the other woman was arrested on Saturday and the brother-in-law some time before that. According to Persaud, a post-mortem examination revealed that Majid died as a result of a fractured skull. He said that from all indications the man was beaten to death and that he also sustained a broken arm.
The Crime Chief told this newspaper that investigators have evidence of where the man was beaten and where he was subsequently taken; an area somewhere close to water.
He said the motive for his murder is not clear but “money and an abusive relationship” are among the leads investigators are following.
Stabroek News was unable to contact any of the man’s relatives.
The woman’s lawyer Mursaline Bacchus told this newspaper that the last word he got from the police was that a file has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice. He said the police are working on the theory that she had something to do with her husband’s death.
He explained to this newspaper that his client arrived in the country on Sunday morning and later went to the police station for some assistance in seeing her husband remains. It was at that point, the attorney said, that the woman was arrested.
On April 28, the body of a man was found with a missing scalp and other injuries at the Number 56 Village, Corentyne foreshore. Police had said in a press release that the man was discovered around 7.40 am. The victim wore a silver ring on the left ring finger and was clad in multi-coloured shorts.
For weeks the body remained unidentified. At one point, the police thought he was a foreigner who had washed up from the foreshore.
A senior police officer told this newspaper over the weekend that Majid and his wife visited Guyana some time last month and they had rented a car which was taking them around.
The wife, the officer said, returned to the US after reportedly telling the man’s relatives that he had gone to Suriname for a visit. The rented car was returned to its owner by a relative of the woman and police have since taken it into custody. Majid had returned to Guyana on holiday after being awarded a huge insurance settlement.
A brother of the man travelled to Guyana some time late last week and identified the body as that of the man.
