Who murdered the spiritualist’s family?

Jul 17, 2011 Features / Columnists, Murder and Mystery

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By Michael Jordan

If you’re receptive enough, there are crime scenes that you will visit where you’ll feel an overwhelming presence of evil. That’s happened to me twice; back in 2000, when I came upon a shallow grave in which two boys had buried a teenage girl that they had raped and murdered. There was also the time in June, 2005, when I saw the hacked-off head of David Barrow at Agricola.
And surely the cops felt that same sense of all-pervading evil when they visited the home of Rockliffe Alves on Saturday November 20, 2004.
They had been summoned there by Mr. Alves, a professed spiritualist, who said that three people had been slaughtered in his house. On the verandah, detectives found the mutilated body of Sonny Harris, a 22-year-old handyman. Someone had chopped him on the shoulder, neck and jaw.
The detectives then entered the kitchen, where they found the body of the family’s 46-year-old housekeeper known as ‘Stella’. Her throat bore two gaping wounds.
In a bedroom, lying in her bed, was the spiritualist’s 84-year-old mother, Ismay Alves. She had a gaping wound to the throat and her clothing was spattered with dried blood and vomit.
Amazingly, she was still alive, though unconscious. She was rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital.
The detectives immediately ruled out robbery as a motive. The victims were all wearing jewellery, and there was no sign of forced entry to the premises. They appeared to have been viciously slashed a few days prior to the discovery.
A pot of cook-up rice, which had begun to attract fungus, was in the kitchen.
Scouring the crime scene, the detectives found a cutlass by a television stand near the verandah door. But the real murder weapon appeared to be a bloodstained chopper, which they found under a chair cushion. They also found a bloody towel on the back fence.
Rockliffe Alves told the detectives that he had travelled to Georgetown one day before (on November 19), and had spoken to the three victims before leaving. He claimed to have only eaten some bread, since Stella, who had been their housekeeper for 15 years, had not finished cooking.
Alves said that he returned at around 14:00 hrs the following day when he made the horrifying discovery. At the time, he had assumed that his mother was also dead.
But the detectives were not convinced that a pot of cook-up could have attracted a growth of fungus in such a short time.
Police surmised at first that the three were victims of a ritual. They estimated that the murders had occurred at least two days prior to the discovery.
Detectives began to question other residents. But the Alves house was some 200 yards from the nearest property, and all of the neighbours said that they had heard no unusual sounds coming from the residence.
Suspicion fell on Rockliffe Alves, and he has taken into custody.
Denying that he had anything to do with the crime, Alves then claimed that his life was being threatened by a man who the spiritualist allegedly owed money.
He alleged that his handyman, Sonny Harris, had also been threatened by another man.
Meanwhile, police awaited word from medical officials on whether they could question Ms. Alves, the lone survivor of the attack. Hopefully, she would identify the killer. Relatives were reportedly assured that the elderly woman would pull through.
But Ismay Alves never recovered. She eventually passed away a few months after being discharged from hospital. She was never able to divulge the identity of her attacker.
Continuing with their investigation, the police were told by some neighbours that Rockliffe Alves had left for Georgetown about two days before the bodies were found. The neighbours recalled speaking with the victims after Mr. Alves had left.
In addition, some road construction workers who were in the area at the time recalled seeing two men going to the Alves property around the same time that it is estimated that the occupants were attacked. One of the men was said to have been extremely tall. The workers could not recall seeing the men pass back.
Medical evidence reportedly showed that from the angle of his injuries, whoever attacked Harris was at least six feet tall.
Now, one would reasonably assume that a spiritualist—someone with the gift of second sight— would have some idea about the identity of the persons who committed mayhem in his home. But to this day, neither Rockliffe Alves nor the police, seem to have a clue as to who entered the secluded house seven years ago.

If you have any information about this or any other unusual case, please contact Kaieteur News by letter or telephone at our Lot 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown office. Our numbers are 22-58458, 22-58465, 22-58482 and 22-58491. You need not disclose your identity.
You can also contact Michael Jordan at his email address: [email protected]

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