Investigators probing the murder of a, the construction worker whose partially decomposed body was discovered floating in a trench at Meten-Meer-Zorg, West Coast Demerara more than a week ago believe that they are closer to solving the crime following the arrest of two suspects on Tuesday night.
Regional Commander of Region 3, Assistant Commissioner Simon McBean yesterday confirmed the arrest of the two suspects.
He said as the investigation continues, the police will soon be seeking legal advice on the way forward in the matter.
Stabroek News was reliably informed that Williams was allegedly killed over an old grievance.
Prior to Williams’ death, he was reportedly imbibing alcohol with the suspects. They reportedly had an argument which later escalated into a fight.
“The guy (one suspect) said that how Andy cuff him in he mouth and bruk he teeth some time ago and that how the thing boil up in he and he start to lash he (Williams) with a wood and then lash he with a hammer before they throw he in the trench,” this newspaper was told.
Williams, a resident of Lot 136 Zeeburg, WCD was last seen alive on June 6th.
His body was discovered in a trench by residents of Tarla Dam last Monday afternoon. At the time, the body was clad in a burgundy jersey, blue pants with white stripes and a pair of black socks.
Williams’ body was positively identified by a relative on Sunday morning.
A post-mortem examination on Monday confirmed that he was murdered.
McBean had previously told Stabroek News that the police were treating the case as a murder since the autopsy showed that Williams died as a result of blunt force trauma to his head.
This newspaper understands that Williams and his family resided in neighbouring Venezuela for 26 years. Reports revealed that Williams returned to Guyana in February this year in search of a job in order to maintain his wife and children.
He later began working with a relative along the East Bank of Demerara (EBD).
Williams, this newspaper learnt, initially stayed at another relative’s place at Zeeburg, West Coast of Demerara. However, he subsequently took up residence at the relative’s place at EBD to avoid having to travel on a daily basis.
As a result, when he did not return home on June 6th, relatives were not worried.
One of Williams’ nieces, who wished not to be named yesterday told Stabroek News that he left the Zeeburg, WCD house where he was staying on the morning of June 6th for work after informing his relatives that he would be staying at the worksite in a camp which was built for workers.
She said Williams promised to return the following day for his clothing. “He told my mom that he go come back fah he clothes on Sunday (June 7th). So I seh, ‘mommy like uncle must be carry clothes in he backpack mek he ain’t come,” the woman said.
As such, the woman said that the family did not became worried when Williams did not return.
It was not until last Saturday when Williams’ wife called the family from Venezuela saying she had not heard from him all week that they sensed something was amiss. “So we say dah is not like he. He would talk to she,” the niece said.
As a result, she said she and her mother began calling around in an effort to enquire about Williams’ whereabouts.
She said they first called the relative who Williams worked with but the man related that he last saw Williams on the afternoon on June 6th when he left after being paid
“The cousin that he work with say that he ain’t see he come since the Saturday (June 6th). He said that he work and he get paid, he ain’t see he for the rest of the week and he didn’t call he neither because he seh some workers would just like go to work, them go work couple days and then they stop work and they don’t show up to work. So he ain’t call to find out nothing,” the niece further explained.
The said afternoon, she said her mother went to a nearby rum shop to find out if Williams was there at any point. “They said that he was there Saturday night (June 6th) and he buy rum and he buy chaser and he left with it,” she related.
The woman said that when the body was found in the trench, the family heard about it but at no point did they think that it was Williams’ body. “We did hear they find somebody in the trench but we didn’t check nothing because we seh man it can’t be he,” she said.
It was not until they were shown a picture that the family confirmed it was Williams from the clothes he was wearing. “The same clothes that he left to go to work, that is the same clothes the person was wearing. So right away we seh dah is he,” she added.
She said they journeyed to the parlour on Sunday where Williams was positively identified.
The family is calling for justice. They said that Williams was a very hardworking and friendly individual, who did not deserve to die in such a manner.
