Acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry this morning remanded Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Major Bruce Munroe, his wife and a former soldier who were arraigned for treason.
Major Munroe and his wife, Carol Ann Munroe, who is the owner and headmistress of Young Achievers Academy, and former soldier Leonard Wharton, were not required to plead to the indictable charge when it was read to them at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
It is alleged that between December 1, 2009 and December 16, 2010 at Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara the trio intended to level war within Guyana to force the president out of his office.
The matter has been adjourned to January 7, 2011 for report.
The Munroes and Wharton all of Soesdyke were charged at CID headquarters, Eve Leary on Monday.
Police in a press release last evening stated that four persons were arrested following investigations and they are expected to be charged and appear in court shortly. It is unclear who the fourth person is.
The Munroes, said to be in their 40s, and Wharton were arrested last week Thursday in connection with the Ministry of Health (MoH) fire last July after extensive investigations by the authorities, a source told Stabroek News yesterday.
The army major’s wife is allegedly the instigator of the plot and according to reports may face additional charges in relation to last year’s blitz in the city during which the High Court, the Richard Ishmael Secondary School and the Brickdam Police Station were attacked.
Carol Ann Munroe is the owner of a private school called Young Achievers Academy at Soesdyke, while Wharton is said to be the owner of La Chalet guest house which lies in proximity to the private school. One of Major Munroe’s brothers, when contacted last evening, told Stabroek News that he did not know much about the circumstances surrounding his brother’s arrest but noted that he had been taken into custody late last week. He said his brother was on his annual leave when he was taken into custody.
He said the family was also in the dark as regards his brother’s wife’s connection to the charges .The man stated that the couple has two young children and he was unaware of the charges being brought against his brother. Reports are that persons in the Soesdyke area were stunned last evening as word of the arrests spread in the community.
Military sources were also in shock yesterday and many persons described Major Munroe as a quiet, affable individual who moved up in rank within the military. It was stated too that the man is a trained demolitions expert.
His wife, according to reports, lived overseas but returned here several years ago and worked at a private school in the Soesdyke area as a teacher. She reportedly encountered difficulties with the school’s administration and left and operated her own school at a former Chinese farm in the Coverden/ Soesdyke area. She subsequently opened the doors to her new school, the Young Achievers Academy, near to the Soesdyke Highway/ Timehri junction.
Last July, the MoH building on Brickdam was gutted by fire and the police subsequently issued arrest warrants for several persons. Earlier this month fugitive Colin Jones, who was arrested initially in connection with the fire, was re-arrested by the police in the mining community of Linden. He had escaped from the Providence Police Station along with accomplice Kurt Thierens.
Jones, who was wounded in a shoot-out with police, has since made a series of shocking revelations to investigators, a senior police source told this newspaper. The man was said to be a member of a gang which reportedly was responsible for the fire which ravaged the MoH July 17, 2009 and a series of attacks on public buildings and police during the early hours of November 4 the same year.
Jones, the source further reported, also provided information about the source of the gang’s arms and ammunition which he said was shipped in from the US. This newspaper also understands that the group was receiving financial support from a source in the US as well. Crime Chief Seelall Persaud had told this newspaper last December that a mastermind, who was implicated through a telephone number after the MoH fire in July 2009, was being sought in the US.
After his arrest, Jones led police to the First Savannah location, which is approximately 15 miles up the Kara Kara Creek from Linden, and directed them to the shallow graves of two gang members who he said he murdered. The decomposed bodies have since been identified as Thierens, who was also implicated in the MoH fire and the attacks last November, and Adriano Tracey. Police had reportedly told Tracey’s relatives that he was implicated in the MoH fire but had never issued a wanted bulletin for him.
Jones, according to the source, has admitted to being a part of the gang involved in the MoH fire and alleges that Thierens was the “mastermind” of that particular plot. The gang, the source said Jones has since told them, had originally targeted the Ministry of Home Affairs. However, that effort was thwarted by the heavy security at the location.
Thierens, Jones told investigators, was enraged when his close friend David Leander, also called David Zammet or ‘Biscuit’ was admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital on July 16 last year. Poisoning was suspected. Leander was in court for the murders of former Agriculture Minister Sash Sawh, his siblings and security guard but died before the preliminary inquiry could be concluded.
