Murder suspect arrested after 20 years on the run

After 21 years on the run, a murder suspect was arrested by police on Saturday.

This was confirmed by Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum, who told Stabroek News yesterday that the suspect has since confessed to the 1995 murder and will soon be charged.

The exact date that the murder took place could not be ascertained yesterday as investigators were still looking for the file.

Stabroek News was told that the suspect stabbed David Ramcharran to death at 7 Miles, Potaro. The suspect is now 40 years old and lived at Princeville, Potaro.

He reportedly told police that earlier in the night they were drinking and while heading home, Ramcharran pulled out a cutlass. He said that he pulled out a knife and inflicted the fatal wound. The man claimed that out of fear, he fled the scene and decided that he would not turn himself in but would wait until police arrested him.

Blanhum said that the man was arrested after his brother made an allegation that he had stabbed him. It was while in custody that police were tipped off that he had fatally stabbed a man in 1995. While being questioned, the man confessed to the crime.

Commander of ‘F’ Division Ravindradat Budhram, in an invited comment, told Stabroek News that the ranks in his division are persistently pursuing persons on the wanted list.

He said that the breakthrough in this case is testimony to the fact that police can solve crimes committed decades ago, particularly with the assistance of the public. He said that since he took up the helm in the division, he has noticed that members of the public are providing investigators with vital information.

Budhram said too that “a lot of old cases are popping up” and there are others that ranks are currently working on.