The execution of businessman Leonard Mahadeo has been added to an already long list of shelved police investigations and unless new clues surface it will remain at a standstill.
Mahadeo was gunned down in a bar at Eccles, East Bank Demerara on March 17, 2012 in a well-planned attack. The only motive police investigators have been able to come up with is that it was drug related. Three of his alleged associates had been detained as part of the investigation in days following the shooting but were all released without charges being laid.
Contacted recently on the status of the investigation, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud told Stabroek News that there has been no further information or developments.
He maintained that drug trafficking could have been the motive as Mahadeo was known to have been involved in this sort of illegal activity. Persaud had previously said that the businessman was known to be associated with persons suspected of being involved in the drug trade. Police officials, following his death, would only say that his killing was drug-related and pointed to a possible fall out between him and key players in the drug trade.
Mahadeo had been acquitted after a trial in 1996 on charges stemming from his alleged involvement in an international cocaine racket. Senior police officials said that he had always been on their radar in cocaine busts, but there was never enough evidence to lay charges against him.
He had also been targeted in an execution attempt in 2008 at Kitty. Stabroek News was unable to make contact with relatives. Previously they had said that they knew of no reason why anyone would have wanted him dead. His reputed wife, identified only as Mandy had said that he was not into bad business and had dredges in the back dams of Mahdia which were a reflection of his honest living.
Reports are that Mahadeo called `Lenny’, 38, who had been drinking beers at the Soca Paradise Bar located at Old Road, Eccles was the lone customer when he was attacked by two masked gunmen some time between 10.30 pm and 10.45 pm. He was alone at the time of the shooting.
Persons who witnessed the shooting, had told this newspaper that from all indications, Mahadeo was waiting on someone as he constantly checked his watch and kept looking at the door. Later, when the two men arrived and shot him at point blank range as he sat in a chair, he did not scream for help although he would have seen the men as they entered the shop armed.
He sustained at least eight gunshot wounds, mostly to the chest and died at the scene. The police who later turned up to investigate recovered six spent shells and four warheads at the scene.
Difficulties
A security source told Stabroek News that there are many challenges ranks would face when investigating an execution. “First of all this is a well-planned thing so the details of escape would have been worked out prior to the killing,” the source said adding that in this regard it would be hard for the police to trace the route of escape.
The source said too that if a car is used to flee from the scene it is fitted with a fake license plate which makes it even more difficult to trace. “This is not a simple thing. People have got to understand that. It calls for a lot of ground work and intelligence gathering”, the source said while admitting that there have been many instances where clearly the police have not done enough ground work.
The source said that investigators have to find ways and means to get persons living close to a crime scene to help them. He blamed this lack of cooperation on the erosion of trust between the police and the community. “We have got to do a lot more work in terms of police community relations. The police can’t solve crimes alone. We need the help of the community,” the source said while stressing that it is known that persons are scared to come forward. The police have to come up with ways to convince witnesses or persons who may have vital information to come forward.
Turning attention to suspected drug related killings, the source said these are among the hardest to solve as the dead persons would have had lots of enemies as a result of their association with the trade. The source said it was hard to pinpoint specific persons unless they leave a piece of evidence at the scene or are caught while attempting to escape.
The source said that unless the force gets undercover agents to penetrate the trade or get persons on the inside to provide them with information, investigators will always face an uphill task.
According to the source, the weapons used would provide little hope as the perpetrators may not use the same guns twice and as such police would have nothing with which to compare the spent shells they would have found.
The source said too that many times those killed know that there is a price on their heads but know that there is very little they could do. The source made the point that in many instances, those killed make no attempt to either escape or to defend themselves when they come under attack.
It was pointed out that the police have a very poor track record of solving execution type murders and “such a trend would not die anytime soon. Look how many executions we have, Trevor Rose, this miner guy in Meadowbrook. They are yet to be solved.”
