Latest update December 21st, 2024 1:52 AM
Psychiatric evaluation for woman who slit Clonbrook man’s throat
The Guyana Police Force will be engaging the services of a psychiatrist to determine the mental capacity of a woman who is being held for Saturday’s night’s murder of Clonbrook, East Coast Demerara resident Sheriff Balmacoon.
The woman who has been in custody since Sunday has not yet been charged, and according to a senior police official, the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) will be sought on the matter.
Dead: Sheriff Balmacoon
“She will be assessed by a psychiatrist and the report will go to the DPP, along with the other evidence,” said the senior official.
Sheriff Balmacoon was stabbed to death last Saturday night by the woman who is said to be of unsound mind.
Investigators have not yet been able to obtain a statement from the woman.
“Based on how she is responding, we know that she is not too right in the head,” a source close to the investigation told this newspaper.
The source informed that so far no relative of the woman has come forward, despite several checks at addresses she has reportedly given to investigators.
But since the mandatory 72-hour incarceration period will expire soon, a decision will have to be made on the way forward with the case.
The senior police official explained that in the absence of a family member coming forward to swear to a committal order, the evaluating psychiatrist can commit the woman to the mental asylum, pending further evaluation.
According to the official, all murders require a person to be in a certain state of mind and this will have to be determined when considering charges against the woman.
It is believed that the woman attacked Balmacoon while he was making his way home under the heavy influence of alcohol.
The murder suspect
Detectives are trying to ascertain what prompted the attack.
There is speculation that Balmacoon, called ‘Boutam’ who was known to the woman, might have triggered it by engaging the woman, who villagers said was a frequent sight in the Clonbrook Village.
An eyewitness said that she had peered out from her window just in time to see the woman chop Balmacoon on his neck.
“I hear de brick pelting and I look out fuh see is wha, and I see she fire a chop and Boutam fall down. Me call me son, ‘look dah gal chop ‘Boutam’,” the eyewitness told this newspaper.
Another neighbour said that minutes after the attack, he tried to apprehend the woman but backed off when she displayed a violent temper.
“Me had to keep a distance from she. She had something in de bag. Me ask she why she juk de man and she seh leh me nah come close, she gon juk me too. So me back off and me nah had nobody fuh help me,” the neighbour related.
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