Dead doctor’s son finally arrives to bury him

Oct 05, 2012 News

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– fortune seekers raid property   

The son of the now dead reclusive Dr. Charles Validen arrived in Guyana just in time to halt the pillaging of his father’s vast asset by fortune seekers seeking to cash in on the absence of close relatives.
Jonathan Validen flew in from Canada yesterday with his uncle John Anderson to finally put to rest the body of his father who was found dead in his Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara mansion, over a month ago.

Dr. Validen’s body has been lying at the Lyken Funeral Parlour awaiting a next of kin, even as fortune seekers, some from as far as the United States, concocted schemes to get a piece or all of his estate.
His burial is now finally set for Saturday.
Jonathan Validen has been living in Canada for most of his life and the last time he had been in Guyana was almost 20 years ago.
He had very little contact with his father since then and had no knowledge of the great wealth his father had acquired during that period.
Today, he saw why those fortune seekers were trying everything possible to get their hands on what the doctor left behind.
In fact, sensing that time was running out, the conspirators had moved quickly to siphon off some of the assets.
They have already stolen the dead doctors Sport Utility Vehicle, a Canter truck and a tractor which were all parked in his Mon Repos compound, even taking possession of the property.
The soap opera like saga is now reaching its climax.
Immediately after arriving in Guyana, Jonathan Validen along with his uncle first set about the business of taking care of his father’s remains.
They visited the Lyken Funeral Parlour where they provided proof of who they said they were, paving the way for the release of Dr. Validen’s remains for burial.
They then travelled up the East Coast of Demerara where they made contact with the police, who later accompanied them to locate the dead doctor’s property.
Not smooth sailing
Things were happening quickly and Jonathan Validen must have thought that his trip to Guyana would be smooth sailing.
He soon found out that it would not be.
They located his father’s maid and it was here things started to unravel.
Two of his father’s cars were parked in the maid’s yard. She claimed that she had taken them there for safe keeping after persons had broken into the doctor’s premises and removed other stuff.
Her explanation was accepted, especially since upon arriving at the doctor’s former residence a little further up the street, it was discovered that the other vehicles had vanished and a stranger was occupying the three storey property.
The man claimed that he had been placed there as a caretaker by a man who was a friend of the doctor.
That friend could not be located by the police and the man was promptly taken into custody.
It turned out that the same man had accompanied Denise Gainetta, an American woman who claimed to be the doctor’s daughter, to the parlour to claim his body for burial.
The entire property was ransacked and there was evidence that the fortune seekers were planning a big haul as several expensive pieces of household appliances and wares were packed up waiting to be removed.
After securing that property, Jonathan Validen and his uncle went to Pigeon Island, East Coast of Demerara, where they were pleasantly surprised.
There they met a spanking new house in a large well fenced compound with a Jaguar motorcar parked inside.
They also secured that property and the heir to the estate is now contemplating what to do with what he now owns, since he has no immediate plans to live in Guyana.
If the plot sounds familiar, it’s the Guyana version of a Lifetime movie.

In an exclusive interview with this newspaper, the young Validen revealed that he only learnt of his father’s death about 10 days ago.
For him it was a triple blow.
Severe losses
“I just lost my mom a month ago, and I lost my sister a year ago, and I lost my grandpa three weeks ago, so I lost all four people in a year.
“It just wasn’t real. I just wanted to avoid it all. I just wanted to check out a bit. I couldn’t believe that every family member I had died within a year,” he added when asked how he was coping with his father’s death.
His first trip back to Guyana in almost 20 years has taught him something about his father who everyone considered a recluse.
“Sometimes I wondered why my father moved back here and now I can see why he did,” the young Validen said.
He was not too angry that persons were stealing what his father left behind.
“I guess that’s what happens when you have poor people living near rich people.  Who ever took it probably need it more than I do, so I’m not worried.
“I guess I’m going to find out what he owns and what he doesn’t own and sell it and make some use of it.”
Dr Validen’s body was discovered by police in his home at Agriculture Road, Triumph, East Coast Demerara (ECD) on August 31st.
The 76-year-old Specialist Obstetrician/Gynaecologist was positively identified by his maid when she arrived at the property to do her usual work.
On that day, the maid, upon arriving at the house, found that everything was as she left it a few days before. The doctor’s room was still locked.
She called for him several times and after receiving no response, she decided to call the police, who arrived swiftly at the scene, at around 09:30hrs. They broke the door to gain access to the bedroom.
Upon entering the room, they found the doctor’s decomposed body lying on the bed.
The matter became interesting when the funeral parlour collected the body as per normal and waited for the next of kin to turn up so that the procedure could be followed, post mortem examination and all.
Days passed and no one turned up. Weeks passed and still no one turned up.
But that situation did not last long, for no sooner had the information filtered out that fortune seekers began turning up at the funeral parlour claiming kinship.
The American woman has since fled the country after the scheme was exposed.
They even offered to pay for his funeral. But the proprietor of the parlour smelled a rat and refused to release the body, demanding that proper documentation be provided – such as birth certificates –  to prove kinship.

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