A suspect has been arrested following the fatal robbery at Mango Landing, where bandits carted off over $500,000 in cash and jewellery.
Businessman Linden McAlmon, 51, of Lot 72 Rabindra Street, Annandale, East Coast Demerara, was fatally shot in the robbery, which occurred at his shop.
His widow, Maureen McAlmon, who survived the encounter with the bandits, now believes that it was a planned heist.
She told Stabroek News that on Sunday, at 11pm, she returned from the backdam at Mango Landing and had been resting in her car a short distance away from the shop. She explained that a few minutes later, a man who worked with her and Linden at the shop came up to the car and told her that three police ranks had been to her husband and he suggested that she talk to him about it.
However, Maureen said she ignored him and continued resting in the car.
About 20 minutes later, a tall dark shadow was cast on the car and the woman said she had a feeling that things were going to take a turn for the worse.
“He smash in the window,” Maureen recounted, adding that the man then grabbed her by her blouse and demanded cash and jewellery. She said that the bandit then pulled off her wedding band and a gold bracelet, before demanding more cash and jewellery.
She was then carried back to the couple’s living quarters, a short distance away, where she met an accomplice of the gunman. “He placed a gun to my head and threatened to shoot me,” she added, saying that the men continued to ask for more valuables. “I was calling for Lenny (Linden) but he ain’t answer,” Maureen added.
The bandits then asked her who else was in the building, which has six rooms.
She said after she informed him that a girl was there, the bandit who held on to her forced her into the room and stripped the girl of her jewellery as well.
A few minutes later, Maureen said that her 18-year-old nephew peeped into the building and caught the eye of one of the bandits. “He was going to run,” she said, “but I tell he stop because they would have shot him.”
It was only after the men ransacked the building, Maureen said,
Their horrific ordeal lasted for about a half of an hour as the men completely ransacked the building. They then left. “We waited a while and then come out of the room,” Maureen stated.
It was then that she ventured into the room that she and her husband shared and found him in a sitting position and motionless in a pool of blood.
The emotional woman said she ran and attempted to wake him up. “He wasn’t responding,” she tearfully mentioned, “So we left the shop and walked to the police station [at Mahdia].”
Subsequently, investigators returned with her to the shop and took statements from her, the girl and her nephew.
A man has since been arrested by the police in connection with the attack.
Linden McAlmon shared two children with his wife. A post-mortem examination is scheduled to be conducted today.
