The police said they have matched the warhead recovered from the body of Sophia mechanic Marlon Welcome to a firearm recovered in a house at 4th Field Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara on February 20.
According to Crime Chief Seelall Persaud the warhead recovered from Welcome’s body matched a firearm that was recovered in the house where eight persons were arrested.
The firearm was found on one of the men and he was subsequently interviewed and the file sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for advice. The suspect is currently on remand after being charged with the Cummings Lodge double robbery.
On February 17, Welcome, 33, of 195 ‘A’ Field Sophia, was awakened in his home around 2:30 am, when he heard a noise. He was subsequently confronted by a man and was struck to the head. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Woodlands Hospital, where he was taken for treatment. A post-mortem examination conducted later on his remains revealed that he died of a single gunshot wound to his head. His niece was taken into custody but was later released since the police could not link her to the crime.
On February 20, around 04:30 hrs Vivian Rookhum, 31, and his brother Frederick Cheong, 30, were held up in their home at 9th Field, Cummings Lodge by two men, armed with a handgun and a cutlass, who entered the building through an open door. The armed men took away their jewellery, a laptop computer, two cell phones and a bicycle and escaped.
Some 20 minutes after the attack on the brothers, at approximately 04:50 hrs three men launched an attack on businessman Mohamed Khan, 42, who lives at 7th Field, Cummings Lodge. At the time Khan was in his motor lorry when he was confronted by three men, two of whom were armed with a handgun and a cutlass.
The men took away a bag containing US$16,440 and $255,000 before escaping. The police responded quickly to the reports received and diligent investigations led to a search on a house at 4th Field, Cummings Lodge, where an unlicensed .38 revolver with two rounds was found and six men and two women arrested.
Later, Orlando Samuels, 22; Ricardo April, 22; Quincy Bentick, 22; and Jamal Munroe, 17 appeared before the court. Samuels and April were jointly charged with robbery under arms, committed on Rookhum and Cheong. Samuels and Munroe were jointly charged with robbery under arms committed on Khan, police said. Samuels was also charged with possession of firearm and ammunition without licence and robbery under arms committed on Savitri Bhola. Bentick and April were charged with robbery with violence committed on Akbar Ali and Amanda Bovell.
They were all remanded to prison by Magistrate Alex Moore at the Sparendaam Magistrates Court until April 4.
