Although police had previously blamed limited forensics capability and the lack of cooperation from witnesses for this situation, security sources say that it all comes down to sloppy investigations.
Last year ended with dozens of cases not being solved, including the murders of a Berbice narcotics detective and two Kato-based ranks. When the country recorded its first high-profile killing on January 24, 2013, there was little hope that the killer/s would be caught.
A source told Stabroek News that high-profile killings are “a complex matter,” while noting that the longer it takes to get the breakthrough, the higher the chances that the case would remain unsolved.
Asked what is lacking, the source pointed out that there needs to be proper police investigations. “The earlier you predict the facts, the better,” the source said, while pointing out that forensics is not something that independently solves crimes. The source pointed out that crimes are solved by investigators as they are the ones who are required to gather the evidence, to find the witness and to find the motive.
Stabroek News was unable to make contact with Crime Chief Seelall Persaud and acting Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell for their comments on the force’s inability to solve high-profile murders.
On January 24, Imtiaz Roopnarine, 38, a security official, was gunned down as he was about to leave the Cool Breeze Guest House in West Ruimveldt. While relatives said it was a robbery, police investigators said that it does not have such an appearance.
They are working on the theory that he was the victim of a `hit’. Based on the reports, as the man was walking out of the guest house, he was confronted by the gunman and ran back into the yard. The gunman, who might have been one of two men seen earlier lurking near the building, then scaled the fence, cornered Roopnarine and shot him dead before he could use his own weapon.
Surveillance cameras located in the compound captured the shooting but the footage was of a very bad quality. Though an arrest was made subsequently, the man was released without charge since he could not have been identified as being the shooter.
Since then police have been unable to find new leads.
Six days later, gold miner Dave Wills, said to be an acquaintance of Roopnarine, was also shot dead after a gunman jumped the gate of the Meadowbrook home he was staying at, kicked down the front door and fired a volley of shots. Wills was in the living room picking out DVDs when the gunman opened fire. Two persons left him mere seconds before the shooting, leading law enforcers to cast doubt on the coincidence.
Wills’ death was also reportedly linked to underworld ties. Police sources had said that there is an emerging link between the gold trade and the laundering of proceeds from the narcotics business.
Wills and Roopnarine were both deported from the US for separate offences.
Commenting on these two cases, the source said that based on the information out there, it is clear that there are more to their deaths.
In relation to Roopnarine’s killing, the source said investigators failed to focus on persons close to the man to determine who would have benefited most from his death. It was pointed out that too much time has passed for the police to be able to pick up something unless new information is received.
The circumstances surrounding Wills’ killing, the source said, seems to suggest that the killers were just waiting for the right opportunity. Wills, who was based at Mahdia, had travelled to Georgetown just before his death and was staying at friends.
According to the source, it seems like Wills was “flushed out of the interior”. While the motive for the killing remains unclear, the source said the father of seven either “did something wrong or failed to do something”.
On February 10, police recruit Harold Haimchand Sukhai, 25, was shot dead as he walked along a lonely road in Tuschen New Scheme with his girlfriend.
Police had said Sukhai was accompanying his girlfriend to her home when they were attacked by three men, one of whom was armed with a firearm, at around 8.30 pm.
According to the police, the men robbed the woman and shot Sukhai to his chest.
About half an hour before Sukhai was attacked, another man was attacked as he walked along the Tuschen public road. He, however, managed to fight off the robbers who left him nursing bruises to his body.
Following the incidents, residents had informed this newspaper that there was a gang operating in the area and they believed members of this gang had committed the attacks. Stabroek News was also told that the activities of the gang, which is based in an area called the “Blacka,” was drawn to the police’s attention but nothing was done.
A source close to the Sukhai case told this newspaper recently that following the questioning and release of three persons, nothing else has happened. The source said that the investigation is still open and that security has been “tightened up” in the community.
The source pointed out that if the police had taken the necessary action when told about the gang, Sukhai’s death along with the dozens of break and enter cases, robberies and sex crimes which have occurred in the community could have been prevented.
“They wait too long (with the Sukhai investigation). Nothing will come out of this. Look is more than two weeks since that happen and nothing much will come out of it now. It’s just too long,” the source said, while pointing out that the police investigating the case are showing a callous attitude.
“They are doing nothing to reassure the family that they are working on the case,” the source said, adding that the whole situation has everyone frustrated.
“There is just sloppy police work and this here is another example,” the source further said.
Last week, Gavin McNeil, a miner, was gunned down at his McDoom, East Bank Demerara home in what appeared to be a robbery.
Mc Neil who took up operations in the Siparuni area after leaving the Venezuela side of the Guyana/Venezuela border was shot four times.
According to police, the attack occurred at about 7.55 pm, when McNeil and his two daughters, 12 and 14 years, and his mother-in-law, June Elwin, 49, had just returned home.
As McNeil was parking his vehicle, the others proceeded to the house, where they were confronted by the robbers. Elwin said there were five of them.
Police said the men, two of whom were armed with guns while the others had knives and cutlasses, forced their captives to call out to McNeil’s wife, Melissa McNeil, 32, who opened the door for them. The armed men then took away an undisclosed sum of cash, a quantity of jewellery and a cell phone and escaped.
It was as they were making their way out of the compound that they shot McNeil to his neck and shoulder, according to police. He was later pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
The man’s relatives said they were convinced that he was the victim of an armed robbery. Elwin had showed Stabroek News the hole in a side gate through which the men entered the yard. The men escaped by later jumping a back fence.
The security source told Stabroek News the circumstances surrounding the shooting do not add up. The source questioned why the perpetrators would have waited until Mc Neil had returned home. The source said that if they were watching the family, they would have known that the wife was at home.
That time, the source said, would have been the perfect opportunity for them to strike.
According to the source, when it comes to high-profile killings, it is either one of two things: the police know who are involved but are not in a position to do anything because of who those persons are, or they genuinely do not know who the perpetrators are.
