Toolbox

OP employee Albert Henry found dead -No marks of violence seen -police

By Sara Bharrat

Office of the President employee and former elections official, Albert Henry was discovered dead in his Diamond Housing Scheme home yesterday afternoon and though the police last evening said that no marks of violence were seen on the body there were questions about how he died as his vehicle was found at another location.

Albert Henry

Henry, 54, of Section A, Block X, Diamond Housing Scheme and formerly of Lot 12 Goed Fortuin, West Bank Demerara, was found dead in his home where he lived alone.

The partly decomposed body, a police press release said, was discovered at about 3.45 pm after residents in the area were alerted to a smell emanating from the man’s home.

According to relatives, the man was missing from work for a few days and his Office of the President colleagues went to his house to enquire about his absence. Subsequent to their enquiry the man was found dead.

When this newspaper arrived at the scene a large group, consisting mostly of police officers was present and the area was already cordoned off with yellow security tape.

Henry’s brother, Ivlor, and his aunt, Joyce Lawson, were the first to speak. They explained that a few days earlier the man was missing from work. When asked whether they knew of the circumstances surrounding the man’s death the two only replied, “We don’t know”.

Ivlor said that they were now awaiting the post-mortem examination (PME) which is to be done sometime today, before they are able to say whether the man died of a natural causes or any “foul play” was involved.

Government Pathologist, Doctor Nehaul Singh, explained that various tests would have to be done to determine how long the man has been dead and only after the PME they will be able to determine the cause of death. According to the pathologist, the fact that the house was locked up would have contributed to the decaying of Henry’s body.

The deceased man’s two daughters were also present at the scene. One later said that her father’s body was badly decomposed. According to her, the smell emanating from the corpse was overpowering.

“He had to been dead for days, the body smelling bad,” one relative said.
Looking into Henry’s house from his double front door his television was seen on. According to one relative, the man’s television was on when his body was discovered and they just left it that way after the police arrived.

At 6.10 pm one policeman was seen exiting Henry’s yard holding a sharp cutlass in his gloved hand.
It was not quite clear when Henry was last seen or heard from. According to his aunt Bernice, she had spoken to him on Wednesday night. The woman explained that he would usually visit her on Saturdays to take her some things. When she didn’t see him last Saturday she tried calling him twice but got no answer.
Other relatives and acquaintances of the man said that they had seen him last Friday at a funeral. The man’s aunt and brother said that his car was discovered at another location last Thursday night.

A resident of the area, who wishes to remain anonymous, told this newspaper that last Friday night they heard “noises” coming from Henry’s home. However, they took it for nothing, but later that same night they saw a woman and two men leaving the man’s yard.

The resident explained that they became worried when they didn’t see Henry for the next few days and they began to smell “something horrible”. They said that at first they thought it was their garbage smelling and tried to do something about it but the odor still lingered.
Henry’s body was removed by the Lyken’s Funeral Parlour.

A police source told this newspaper that it appeared that articles had been taken from the man’s house.
Investigations are continuing and relatives said that they are awaiting the results from the PME before they say anything else about the matter.
Henry had been involved in several elections and had participated in training up to the 2006 polls.

Comments

About Comments

We thank all readers who have contributed to this site since its relaunch. This section of the website is intended to provide a forum for reasoned and reasonable debate on the newspaper's content and we hope that readers make full use of it as many have already done.

The comments section is an extension of the newspaper and what it has become well known for over its history: accuracy, balance and fairness.
In recent weeks a large proportion of the comments posted have contained attacks on other users, slander, coarse language and profanity. Comments of these types will be deleted.
Comments which contain gratuitous and incendiary references to race and ethnicity will be struck.
We reserve the right to edit/delete comments for length, any libel and taste. We moderate all comments so be patient while your message waits to be approved.
Curious about the little images next to each commenter's name ? Go here and sign up using the same email address you used to register for Stabroeknews.com then upload your image and confirm it.

One Response to “OP employee Albert Henry found dead -No marks of violence seen -police”

bbuckman
on July 31st, 2008 12:59 am

sad when any human dies.We should all live to ripe old age.At
least our parents should not have to bury us.

[Reply to this]