Suspects held over killing of Corentyne fisherman

After the discovery of the body of fisherman Levan Chanderpaul, who was beaten and chopped, a suspect, who had previously threatened him, is among the persons who have been detained by police.

Chanderpaul, 26, of Lot 116 Number 68 Village, was found at the Number 68 Village backdam on Wednesday evening.

According to a post-mortem examination, which was conducted yesterday, Chanderpaul died from a fractured skull.  Police currently have a number of persons in custody, however, the prime suspect is believed to be the man who had threatened Chanderpaul on numerous occasions.   Sewaranee Chanderpaul, the mother of the dead man, stated that she last saw her son around 7.30 on Monday evening.

According to the woman, after searches by relatives proved futile, she filed a missing person’s report at the Number 51 Police Station and at the Springlands Police Station.

She explained that after making the reports, she visited the home of the man that she suspected may have had something to do with her son’s disappearance. There, she met with the suspect’s wife, who told her to go look for her son behind his girlfriend’s home.

The woman explained that she then went to the girlfriend’s home but the woman verbally abused her.

“When me go deh she start cuss me up,” Chanderpaul said. According to the grieving mother, her son’s body was discovered some 200 yards away from where the suspect’s wife told her to look.

Eyewitnesses told Stabroek News that Chanderpaul’s hands were tied behind his back with a black cloth, while he had several chop wounds to his head, face and leg.

When asked, why her suspicions led her to the suspect, the mother said, “He does sell drugs and does always tell me son how he go kill him, how he go done away with him.”

According to Chanderpaul, the suspect had accused her son a few months ago of stealing poultry from him and had started threatening him since then.

Stabroek News was told that the suspect had reported the matter and that Levan Chanderpaul was ordered by a court to pay the suspect $25,000 compensation. His mother paid the compensation about three days ago.