As fish vendor Lawrence Martindale walked along the Port Kaituma water front to his place of lodging during the wee hours of yesterday morning, he was attacked and fatally stabbed about the body.
Martindale, 50, of Lot 473 ‘B’ Field Sophia, East Coast Demerara, fought his attacker, residents said, but in the end collapsed at the water front area, where he died. It was later discovered that about $300,000, which the deceased had in his position, were missing.
Several hours after the attack, Port Kaituma police managed to arrest a suspect. The man remained in custody yesterday. It is unclear whether the stolen cash has been recovered.
A resident, who requested anonymity, told this newspaper that it was a water front resident who discovered Martindale before sunrise yesterday. “The resident told me that they saw him [Martindale] in a slumped position on the ground and they said they knew something was wrong with him because there was what appeared to be blood around the place. But they didn’t realize that he was dead so they sent for the medic,” the resident reported.
The resident further reported that when the medic arrived at the scene, it was discovered that Martindale had already died. It is believed that the man bled to death because of the amount of blood around the area.
When he visited the scene shortly after sunrise, the resident said, he observed a cut in one of Martindale’s hands. The deceased, according to him, had several other wounds about the body. “It was obvious that whoever attacked him used some sort of blade and from what the scene looked like, he [Martindale] had been struggling with his attacker,” he said.
On Sunday morning, the resident further said, Martindale was seen on the water front selling fish. The man, he explained, usually vended in the area periodically and would sell fish, coconuts or other items that were available. Martindale, the resident reported, hauled in approximately $300,000 in sales on Sunday and was seen with the money at his vending location. “In these places people hardly ever leave money in their house or lodging place… walking around with $300,000 cash is like nothing… so we believe that he had this money on him when he was attacked because no money was found at his place of lodging,” the resident explained.
It is believed that the attacker trailed Martindale to wherever he visited on Sunday night and then followed the man as he was returning to his place of lodging. This newspaper understands that the man was attacked in a very dark area near an old train line.
This is the fifth robbery that has occurred in Port Kaituma within the past two weeks, the resident said. “These are only the robberies I know about but I am sure there have been other petty cases… There are very few police stationed here and the police station here lacks proper equipment. Criminals are aware of this so many of them are willing to take the chance to make easy money,” he said.
Meanwhile, when Stabroek News visited Martindale’s Sophia home yesterday, his eldest son said that the deceased had left for the interior location just over a week ago. “He and me come back from Suriname some time after Mash day and then he tell me that he going [Port] Kaituma but I tell he that I didn’t want take that trip,” the teen said.
Early yesterday morning, he related, a friend from Port Kaituma called his mother, Lauren Martindale, to inform her about his father’s death. He further explained that relatives from Mabaruma were traveling to the location. “Our friends from [Port] Kaituma told us that couple hour after they find my father the police arrest a man,” he said. “They said that my father was robbed and that he try to fight the man but he couldn’t make it because he had too much stabbing.”
Commander of Police E&F Division Assistant Commissioner David Ramnarine, despite reports to the contrary from Port Kaituma residents and from Martindale’s son, told this newspaper that police had not apprehended a suspect.
A team from Georgetown, Ramnarine said, has been dispatched to Port Kaituma to assist the ranks there with investigations. Martindale’s body, the senior police officer further said, is at the Port Kaituma morgue.
