Gas cylinder ‘bomb’ caused blast in executed couple’s home

May 11, 2013 News

-killers duct-taped businessman’s hands

Totaram Mootoo’s killers duct-taped his hands and placed him to lie near his wife, Bhagmattie, in their master bedroom, before exploding a crude home-made bomb, fashioned from a gas cylinder, in the victims’ Guysuco Scheme, East Coast Demerara home.
A senior fire official told Kaieteur News yesterday that a 20-pound gas cylinder was part of a device that caused the massive explosion and subsequent fire that gutted the two-storey property.

Totaram and Bhagmattie Mootoo

The official said that the cylinder was “blown to bits.” Chief Fire Officer Marlon Gentle and his team were later seen scouring the surroundings for possible traces of the device.
The charred bodies of 54-year-old Totaram Mootoo, called ‘Beer’, and 48-year-old Bagmattie Mootoo, called ‘Dolly’, were discovered early yesterday morning in the couple’s master bedroom after firefighters extinguished the blaze that had engulfed the house.
Kaieteur News was told that the businessman’s hands were bound behind his back with duct-tape while his wife was lying nearby with an arm around her husband. Fragments of a gas cylinder were found at the head of the bed. Other fragments were also found in the yard, having blasted through a massive hole in the bedroom wall. The blast also blew off the roof and several windows.
Because the corpses were so badly burnt, detectives were unable to immediately ascertain whether the victims were shot or if they died from the blast. Some residents had recalled hearing sounds like gunshots before hearing the loud explosion, which shook some nearby homes and blew a large hole in the northern bedroom wall of the concrete structure. But people in the immediate vicinity could not recall hearing any gunshots.
Police officials said that their investigation was hampered by the lack of surveillance cameras on any of the houses in the immediate area. The sole surveillance camera on the slain couple’s home was destroyed during the fire. Guysuco Scheme is one of the upscale neighbourhoods in suburban Georgetown.
Police believe that the victims were slain around midnight Thursday or soon after and that the killers entered and left via a western door, which was found unlocked. There is speculation that the couple let their killers in and were then taken back to their bedroom and executed.

Porters removing the bodies

Despite searching the premises for hours, Crime Scene investigators failed to locate Mootoo’s licensed 9mm pistol, causing them to believe that the killers took the weapon.
Kaieteur News also confirmed that a safe in the couple’s bedroom was found open and empty of any valuables. This has given rise to speculation that Mootoo was tortured to open the safe, in which close friends said that he stashed gold and other valuables.
Police sources said that they had received reports that the businessman, who ran a cambio business, was expected to collect some $57M on Thursday. Close relatives of the slain man have said that he had repeatedly complained of being owed large sums of money.
Sheik Yaseen, who described himself as a close friend of Mr. Mootoo, said that he was at a nearby shop on Thursday night when he heard two gunshots. Yaseen said that he then heard a loud explosion. The man said that he hurried to the area from which the explosion had come and saw Mootoo’s house ablaze. Another neighbour said that the fire started in the couple’s bedroom.
According to Yaseen, he became concerned when he saw both of Mootoo’s vehicles parked near the premises, since that seemed to indicate the couple was still inside the burning house. He then broke off the padlock from the gate and entered the house via an unlocked door at the southern side of the house. However, the intense heat drove him back.
The man said that he then clambered onto a low roof’ located near the bottom flat and smashed two windows to gain entry. He sustained a deep gash on one of his hands in the process.
Another resident said that he contacted a senior fire official and firefighters arrived shortly after and quickly gained control of the blaze. They eventually located the two badly burned bodies.

The couple’s home

Asked if he had observed anything suspicious, a resident said that he saw a white car with tinted windows, which were wound up, driving away from near the burning building.
A relative said that she last saw the couple alive on Wednesday and that they both appeared to be in good spirits.
Several of the couple’s close friends arrived at the scene yesterday as news of the shocking double murder spread. Those who spoke with Kaieteur News described the businessman as a generous individual.
Kaieteur News was told that Mootoo had operated a rum shop and subsequently became involved in several businesses, including a cambio, fuel and gold mining operations.
The businessman was incarcerated in 1995 with two Herstelling residents identified as Horse Man and Brusche for manslaughter. He was subsequently freed by Justice Cecil Kennard.