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North West District murder… Apparent case of mistaken identity
Dead: Marlon Softleigh
In an apparent case of mistaken identity, Marlon Softleigh, 34, also known as Marlon Waddle, was chopped to death in Cariaco in the North West District of Guyana in the early hours of April 12, 2008.
On Tuesday last, Eglan Waldron, 27, was remanded to prison for the murder of Marlon Softleigh. According to Police Prosecutor, Denise Griffith, the murder happened over an argument about cigarettes.
According to Griffith, Waldron and another man had an argument and the accused left and returned with a cutlass and chopped Softleigh, whom he mistook for the man with whom he had the argument.
The prosecutor said that after he chopped Softleigh he realized that it was the wrong person.
Waldron claims to have been some six miles away when the murder occurred.
Softleigh, a porkknocker cum dredge owner, was apparently in the Cariaco area to purchase ration for his mining camp in Iana. In Iana, the power went off at approximately 23:30 hours and it was at this time that Softleigh left his lodging to go and buy cigarettes. On his way to buy the cigarettes his assailant jumped him and chopped him repeatedly about the body.
The residents of Cariaco awoke in the morning to find Softleigh’s body as they ventured outside of their houses.
According to distraught family members, judging from the severity of the wounds, there may have been more than one assailant. Softleigh’s brother-in-law, David Bidder, with whom he had lived for 13 years, said that the family had received reports from other persons working in the back dam that his attacker, who is in police custody, admitted that he had accomplices when he killed Softleigh. This, however, was unable to be confirmed.
According to Softleigh’s family, the attacker had killed people before.
The fact that Softleigh was not robbed confirms that the motive of the killing was a case of mistaken identity, explained Bidder. Softleigh apparently had raw gold in his pockets when he was attacked, and the gold was still there when the body was discovered.
The dead man is mourned by his common-law wife of four years, Luzia Dos Santos, 25, and is survived by four children from previous relationships. Santos, who is a Brazilian national, apparently missed Softleigh’s funeral as she was in Brazil when he was killed.
The death sent shockwaves through the North West District.
Compounding the situation is Softleigh’s brother, Mario Softleigh’s unwillingness to hand over the dredge equipment to Santos.
Mario had apparently begun to work with Marlon Softleigh some two weeks before the latter was killed. Upon hearing of Marlon Softleigh’s death, Mario Softleigh contacted Santos and forged an agreement with her to give her one million dollars, in return for his continued working on the dredge.
Santos agreed to the proposal, and handed over the documents for the dredge and the equipment used in the mining activities.
Bidder and his family, who have taken Santos in as she tries to wrap the matter up, explained that once Mario Softleigh had the documents, he said that Santos cannot have anything because she is a foreigner.
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