One year later… Blankenburg wife killer still at large

Jan 20, 2013 News

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By Rehana Ashley Ahamad
Thursday marked one year since 33-year-old Rushell Rodney was murdered by her husband who later fled to neighbouring Suriname, and has not been heard from since. At least that is what his relatives say. While he remains at large and has been living his life for the past year, his late wife’s children and her relatives are still unable to find any form of closure.
And adding to their worries are the operations of the police on the matter. Apart from an officer calling the dead woman’s mother to find out where she had been buried several months ago, her relatives said that they have never heard of an ongoing investigation.
Yesterday, the girl’s mother, Evette Thomas, said that ever since the killing her entire family has fallen apart.
The dead woman’s son, 12-year-old Kevin, who was the first to stumble upon his mother’s body, remains more distraught than the others. He is still unable to come to grips that he has lost his mother.
It had been just after midday and the boy was making his usual stop for lunch at his parents’ Blankenburg Executive Housing Scheme, West Coast Demerara home. His stepfather, Shawn Rodney, had earlier in the day, sent money for him to buy lunch and not return home until after school.
But upon collecting the money, the boy said that he began to get an uneasy feeling and just decided to go home as he usually would.
Nothing could have prepared this young boy for what he was about to witness. Calling out to his mother and hoping to see her preparing his lunch, the child bolted into the kitchen only to find her lifeless body on the floor. There was blood everywhere. Her throat was slit and her body bore multiple stab wounds.
He hysterically ran out of the house and started to scream. A neighbour rushed to him then summoned the police. The dead woman’s mother related that prior to the call that she received from her daughter’s neighbours, she was talking to her son-in-law on the phone.
She explained that earlier in the day, she got a telephone call from her daughter who said that she was leaving her husband because she was fed up of his accusations of infidelity.
She added that just as she was going to advise her daughter on what to do, her son-in-law came on the line and said that two women in the village (whose name he mentioned) told him that his wife has another man who visits her at her camp in the interior.
Kaieteur News understands that after Shawn Rodney was laid off from his job in Cayenne, French Guiana, he had agreed for his wife to take up a work in her mother’s shop in the interior.
Thomas said that her other daughter was also interlinked to the call and opted to explain to her brother-in-law that what he heard was untrue and that he should not believe what people had been saying.
But before she could finish, Shawn Rodney abruptly disconnected the phone. This caused some amount of unease to her family who pondered over the matter for a while before they received another call.
Thomas said that it was her son-in-law. The man had called to inform her that her daughter had walked out on him, and that he was on his way to Enmore to return his wife’s nephew home, and would drop by to speak with his father-in-law.
But that was not the case. Shawn Rodney abandoned his car, bearing licence plate number PNN 9420, on the Carlton Hall, Mahaicony Public Road.
He then took the child, boarded a minibus, and proceeded to Skeldon. There he put the boy in a taxi for him to be returned home, and then boarded a vessel to neighbouring Suriname.
Suspecting that something was amiss, the woman’s sister said that she tried to contact her brother-in-law but he kept avoiding them.
“We call he back and he answer the phone but all he say is that he driving and police on the road and he can’t really talk.”
By that time, his in-laws were already at the scene of their daughter’s murder and could no longer make contact with him.
When he arrived home the young child explained that he was watching television when he heard his aunt and uncle arguing bitterly. This child was in the house when he killing occurred.
“The boy say that Rushell locked Shawn out of the house but he still manage to get back inside. When he come in back, the lil boy said that he hear he aunty telling Shawn that she love he and he say that no, that she don’t love anybody.”
While the dead woman’s mother yesterday said that the accused had never made any contact with her or any other relative, a Stabroek News article dated January 19, 2012 stated that the man made contact with a relative and admitted to murdering his wife.
Rushell Rodney’s daughter described Shawn Rodney as a good man whom she never saw ill-treat her mother prior to her murder. She said that he never ill-treated his step children. The man’s mother-in-law also attested to this.
The woman’s relatives explained that they are at a loss to understand how the Shawn Rodney they knew could kill his wife.
The incident has left the woman’s children orphaned. They are being taken care of by their grandmother, and their mother’s only sister.
The lad who was described as being very bright could not manage to perform well at the recent National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examinations.
Thomas said that her grandson would usually sit in a corner by himself as though he was oblivious to the world.
“Everybody stressed out and still can’t get over this, but her children are the ones who truly suffering, especially her son. He does be lost all the time. We does got to go and like try to get his attention to something.”
The woman explained that while her six-year-old grandson bore witness to the attack, he is still at a tender age and is not being affected as much as Rodney’s son who even refuses to be alone.
The home where his mother was murdered is now being occupied by some of her relatives. Her children cannot bear to live at the home anymore.
Meanwhile, one of the murdered woman’s cousins is calling on authorities to provide counseling for not only her cousin’s children, but to everyone who has ever gone through such a trauma.

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