A well-known restaurateur was murdered in his home yesterday morning, plunging the East Ruimveldt community where he lived and operated his business into mourning.
Dead is Zhenjz Su, 35, the proprietor of the Jade Stone Chinese Restaurant, popularly known as the ‘Black Chiney’ restaurant, located along Mandela Avenue.
According to a police press release, at around 1:30AM Fei Su, 32, was confronted in her home above the restaurant by a group of men who assaulted her and took away an undisclosed sum of money. When she checked the kitchen area downstairs, she found her husband Zhenjz Su, dead. His feet were tied, his mouth gagged, and he bore a chop wound to his head.
Fei was subsequently taken for medical attention and admitted to hospital.
According to Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum, the police are currently questioning several persons in relation to the murder. A DVR was recovered from the home and investigators are trying to view the footage from the various security cameras that were set up around the property. He also said that the undisclosed sum of money that was taken in the attack was the earnings for the day from the restaurant.
Questions are being raised about the motive as other large sums of money that were around the house at the time of the murder were untouched.
A police source stated that information was received about a suspect and investigators are trying to pinpoint the person’s location for questioning.
When Stabroek News visited the property yesterday, both the restaurant and the adjoining house were tightly locked and the gates secured. Black iron grills could be seen on all of the windows and openings around the house, save for the western door. Multiple dogs were seen patrolling the yard and several cameras were mounted around the property. “Man, I don’t know what happening in this place now. Nobody safe. That man was a good man, you know. Everybody in the area know he and everybody does buy at the shop and now look what happen. How people so cruel, brother?” a distraught resident asked.
The man, who said he wished to remain anonymous, told Stabroek News that while he lives not too far from the restaurant he neither heard nor saw anything abnormal. He highlighted the tightly secured property and singled out the one unbarred door that he said the bandits probably used to gain access to the house. The couple’s relatives were seen attempting to shut the door, which appeared to have been broken. While the door was broken, a source stated that keys were used to enter the house.
Some residents suggested that it was more than just a robbery and that the person or persons who committed the crime were known to Zhenjz. They pointed out that before and after the attack they did not hear any of the couple’s multiple dogs barking.
Su is survived by his wife, who is still currently admitted at the Georgetown Public Hospital, and his two children.
