Six persons are in police custody following the discovery yesterday of the battered body of a logger, a short distance from a Timehri ‘wedding house’ that he had visited the night before.
Dead is McLean Benjamin, 55, of Baramita Village, North West District. Before he was killed, Benjamin had been staying with a friend at Alliance Road, Timehri.
Two pieces of wood, believed to have been the murder weapons, were left lying on top the body. The motive for the killing is unclear.
Police said Benjamin’s body was found with marks of violence at about 07:30 hours. Four men and two women have been arrested and are assisting with the investigation.
Stabroek News was told that Benjamin’s body was discovered by Gomattie Gobin, who was picking up empty bottles in the yard next door to the ‘wedding house’, at the Timehri Public Road. The woman immediately raised an alarm and the ranks from the nearby Timehri Police Station were summoned. Gobin lives at the house where the wedding was kept.
Residents said they did not hear any strange sounds during the course of Sunday night into early yesterday morning, since the music from the ‘wedding house’ was very loud.
At the house yesterday, many persons had congregated and were discussing the incident. Police were already there conducting their investigations.
The man’s brother, Denis Benjamin, told this newspaper that around 07:30 hours, a friend of his asked if he had heard what happened to his brother. “He seh ‘watch ya brother dead down deh and he bleeding through he ears or nose or something’. At first I thought that the man was joking but then I said that it couldn’t be a joke because today wasn’t all Fools Day,” Denis said sadly.
The man said he immediately went to the location, where he saw a policeman. Denis said he identified himself to the policeman, who allowed him to view the body. “When I checked, I see the marks on his left side, like gashes. He was lashed because after they do de act they just throw de wood pun he,” the man said.
He explained that Benjamin worked at various interior locations as a logger. When he did not find work, he would go to Timehri and stay at his friends.
In the Timehri community, he would do various odd jobs for residents.
Denis added that his brother was like a family friend to the family that held the wedding and that would explain why he was at the house on Sunday night.
He later said that he last saw Benjamin on Saturday at a shop in the area. Denis said that before parting ways with his brother, he told him not to drink too much. He explained that the dead man drank a lot and was even in the habit of mixing his drinks.
The wedding festivities began on Friday and according to reports Benjamin was there helping with the preparation.
One resident said that when she left the wedding late Sunday night, she left Benjamin there alive and well. The music was turned off around 01:00 hours yesterday. Residents said the man had to have been killed before the music was turned off, since they heard nothing.
Benjamin’s body was found face down in the sand in a small passage in the yard next door.
Police removed several pieces of men’s clothing from the house there. But when a female occupant was approached for comment, she said she was too confused to speak.
Residents described Benjamin as a kind man who was always willing to go the extra mile for people. “Whoever did this was wrong,” a woman, who said she had known Benjamin for some 20 years, said.
This is the second time the Benjamin family has suffered such a tragedy. About seven years ago, the dead man’s brother, Christian Benjamin, was stabbed to death while attending a party at Supenaam.
