A knife, a metal pipe and a stick of dynamite

Jun 03, 2012 Features / Columnists, Murder and Mystery

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–    St. Lucian George Antoine left a trail of death from Mahdia to Georgetown

 

By Michael Jordan
It was at around ten o’clock on August 31, 1971, that a deafening explosion shook

Khan’s Guest House near Radio Demerara in High Street.
Inside the room from which the explosion had come stood two trembling, blood-spattered little boys. Policemen who ventured into the smoke-filled room almost gagged on the stench of blood and burning flesh.
And something that seemed not quite human lay near a gaping hole in the floor…
But let’s start this dark tale of murder and obsession at the point where it really began; around 1966, some five years earlier, at a dance at 73 Miles, Potaro. It was here that a young St. Lucian man named George Antoine, known to friends as ‘Lightning’, met a young Guyanese woman named Jean Ann Andries.
George had migrated to Guyana to seek his fortune as a diamond miner. He was a quiet man with an easy smile. At the time, Jean was just 18, and she already had a son, named Tony, from a previous relationship. But that didn’t deter George Antoine. He struck up a friendship with Jean and eventually, the two began to live together. Jean bore George two sons; Leslie and Brian.
Jean Ann’s little sister, Rhonda, also moved in with them. The couple first settled at Kaieteur Top, but frequented Mahdia.
Jean Ann would sometimes accompany her spouse on his porkknocking escapades, sometimes even panning for gold side by side with her man.
On the outside, they seemed like a happy young couple. But then close relatives began to hear whispers that all was not well.
People who knew the couple told Jean’s relatives that George was ill-treating his young reputed wife. In fact, some even claimed that he was forcing her into prostitution. It was also rumoured that George was into illegal activities, which included cattle-rustling near the border.
But when she met with the relatives, Jean Ann always appeared to be happy and would tell them that the rumours about George were untrue.
The couple eventually moved to Mahdia. They also travelled frequently to Bartica, where Jean had relatives. Then, at around 1968, Jean Ann’s 10-year-old sister, Rhonda, who had been living with the couple, died suddenly. Disturbing rumours began to circulate that the child had been murdered. However, both Jean Ann and George insisted that Rhonda had succumbed to gastroenteritis. They said they were forced to bury the body at Kaieteur Top without a post mortem.
Since gastroenteritis was prevalent at the time, the relatives eventually accepted the story.
But around 1969, a female cousin who lived in Bartica received a letter from Jean Ann. In the letter, Jean stated that she wanted to break off her relationship with George. According to her, she had repeatedly tried to leave him, but George would always track her down.
In 1971, Jean Ann visited the cousin at Bartica, and after bursting into tears, told the cousin a very terrifying story. She revealed that George was indeed involved in cattle rustling and would barter stolen cattle for guns. She claimed he had three firearms, and had shot and wounded a man at Mahdia. And the rumours about George forcing her into prostitution were also true, Jean said.
“You see that pants and shirt that he got on? Is my body pay for them, “Jean Ann lamented. “I so frustrated that I could push a knife in myself.”
Then Jean revealed to her shocked cousin that little Rhonda hadn’t died from gastroenteritis after all.
According to her, George had resented having to take care of ‘somebody else child’, and often ill-treated the ten-year-old. She claimed that while she was out, George struck the child to the head with a piece of metal pipe.
When Jean returned home, Rhonda was lying listlessly in a hammock and complaining of headaches. On being questioned further, she revealed that George had struck her. According to Jean, the family retired to bed, and next day she found Rhonda dead in the hammock. Jean explained that because Mahdia was three days’ journey from their location, they buried the child’s body in a shallow grave.
She claimed that George then travelled to Mahdia to report to the police that Rhonda had succumbed to ‘gastro’. However, the police had somehow already received word of the child’s death, and told George to accompany them to the spot where the body was buried.
But cunning George Antoine took the cops to another area near a stream. At the time, the stream was swollen by heavy rain, and rather than cross the stream, the cops abandoned the search.
Rhonda Andries’ grave has never been found.
After relating her story, Jean Ann asked the cousin to borrow a suitcase, since she wanted to travel to Georgetown. But before she could leave, George turned up at the cousin’s home. The couple began to quarrel and in her anger Jean blurted out: “The day I leave you is the day you would live in jail.”
According to the cousin, George’s countenance changed and she is convinced that had she not been present, George would have killed Jean at that same moment. The worried cousin expressed her fears for Jean’s safety, but Jean replied that she didn’t care if George killed her.
A few days later, George returned to the cousin’s home. He told the woman that Jean had left him. The cousin consoled George that he would eventually find someone to take Jean’s place. George responded that he missed Jean and the children. Before leaving, he promised that he would return to Mahdia and send money for them.
Meanwhile, Jean Ann, along with her three children, had traveled to Georgetown. She booked in at Khan’s Guest House near to Radio Demerara in High Street. At the time, she was accompanied by a young man known as ‘Dougie.’ But as he had done before, George Antoine tracked her down, since the couple had often stayed at the same guest house.
He booked a room at the top floor.
On Monday, August 31, at around ten o’clock, George confronted Jean Ann in the hotel. He stabbed her in the hand. Jean Ann went to a nearby police station and reported the assault. She then returned to the hotel.
According to reports, Jean Ann and her new boyfriend, ‘Dougie’ were heading back to the police station when George attacked her again. ‘Dougie’ managed to escape. Jean Ann was not that lucky. George cornered her and stabbed her in the stomach. Jean cried out “‘Lightning’ stab me.” The 25-year-old woman then collapsed and died on D’Urban Street.
Pursued by a policeman, George Antoine fled to Khan’s Guest House. He then entered the room that Jean had booked. Two-year-old Brian and Leslie, aged four, were still in the room. Minutes later, a deafening explosion shook the hotel.
When police finally forced open the bedroom door, they found George’s headless and burned body on the floor. Also in the room were the two children. They were blood-soaked, but unharmed.
From all reports, after killing his estranged spouse, George Antoine had entered the hotel room, placed a stick of dynamite in his mouth, and set it alight.
Today, landmarks such as Khan’s Guest Hose and Radio Demerara are gone. But old-times still remember crazy George Antoine, who killed two sisters and then literally lost his head over the elder one.

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 offices. Our numbers are 22-58491, 22-58473 and 22-58458. You need not disclose your identity.
You can also contact Michael Jordan at his email address [email protected].

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