Requiem for a playboy

Feb 23, 2014 Features / Columnists, Murder and Mystery

By Michael Jordan

Had we followed this case more intensely, we surely would have tracked down Trevor Johnson’s secret lover, and the man whom they said killed him back in February 2002.

Trevor Johnson: Did a jealous rival end his life?

But that was around the same time that the ‘crime wave’ gunmen were on their rampage; so I guess we were too busy following their blood trail to wonder too much about a dead playboy.
And Trevor Johnson was a ‘player’. He had sired at least 14 children with different women. At the time this story begins, he was living with a slim, attractive woman named Paula Abdulla and the couple’s two children, aged eight and two. When I met her last week, Paula smiled and said, without a trace of bitterness that her reputed husband liked ‘plenty women’.
But Johnson appeared to have been playing a very dangerous game.
At around 9.00 a.m. on Thursday, February 21, 2002, Johnson, a 40-year-old shipping company employee, left his Joseph Pollydore Street, Lodge home on his bicycle, after telling his reputed wife that he was going to buy bottled water and see a friend.
It was approximately 4.00 p.m., when Johnson called Paula and told her that he was at the Stabroek Market with a friend, and that he would return home with the water.
Paula Abdulla wasn’t too worried when her man failed to come home that night. She assumed that he had slept at the friend, who lived “over the river.” But when the following day came and Johnson failed to turn up, she called the friend. He revealed that the two had parted company by the Stabroek Market and that Johnson had said that he was heading home.
Still, Paula Abdulla wasn’t worried enough to make a missing person’s report. Later that day, though, she had her television set tuned to CNS Channel 6, when an announcer reported that the body of an unidentified man, with a gunshot wound to the head, had been found near the Kitty seawall, a short distance from the Russian Embassy. Then the station showed footage of the victim, who looked disturbingly similar to her missing spouse. And although the victim’s face wasn’t visible, Ms. Abdulla observed that he was even wearing a black jersey with white stripes, and a pair of green Clarks shoes. Those were the same type of clothing and shoes Johnson had worn when he left home.
Still, Paula Abdulla clung to hope that her reputed husband would turn up alive.
Eventually, on Monday, February 24, Ms. Abdulla mustered the courage to visit the Lyken Funeral Parlour, where she positively identified the seawall victim as her spouse, Trevor Johnson.
Initial reports suggested that Johnson was shot while coming to the aid of a woman who was being robbed. But from the outset, Paula Abdulla suspected otherwise. The Trevor Johnson she knew was not likely to get involved in an altercation. What she knew for sure was that he was a ‘ladies’ man’. She was certain that a woman had caused his death.
What she had observed of the body was that Johnson’s pants were unzipped; his jersey was rolled up to his chest, and his vest was found a few feet away from the corpse.
But who could the ‘mystery woman’ be? Some of Johnson’s close relatives decided to do their own investigating. According to reports, a male relative eventually contacted a woman, who claimed that she was in the vicinity of the seawall when Johnson was slain.
“They got in contact with an eyewitness, and she told them that he (Johnson) was walking on the seawall and she heard a gunshot, and that this girl start screaming over the body,” Ms. Abdulla said.
She alleged that the ‘eyewitness’ drove to the Kitty Station and made a report, but by the time the police arrived at the scene “a lot of army personnel” were already there.
Johnson’s relatives were reportedly also given the identity of his secret lover. Ms. Abdulla claimed that this woman resided in Kitty and was having a relationship with an individual with military connections.
Acting on this information, police reportedly invited the ‘lover’ to the Kitty Station. Ms. Abdulla said that the woman denied knowing Johnson, and she was released within minutes.
To this day, Trevor Johnson’s relatives believe that, for reasons unknown to them, no thorough investigation was conducted into his death. According to one relative, Johnson’s father felt that pressing with an investigation could bring trouble to the family.
“I was looking into this thing, but the father said to leave it alone, it might bring all kinds of things (trouble) and that God knows best.”
“The girl he (Johnson) was going around with had a boyfriend who was an ex-soldier. Police had all the information they needed, but we never had full cooperation. After we got the lead, they took her in for questioning, but what questions did they ask?”
Paula Abdulla holds out little hope of Johnson’s killer ever being brought to justice.
“Friday last was 12 years (since he died).They have never picked up back that story…it seems like a total cover-up…”

If you have any information about this unusual case, please contact Kaieteur News at our Lot 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown location. We can be reached on telephone numbers 225-8458, 225-8465, 225-8491 or 225-8473. You need not disclose your identity.
You can also contact Michael Jordan at his email address: [email protected]

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HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN?
The Guyana Police Force is seeking your help in locating Roger Brandt, who is wanted for the murder of

Roger Brandt

74-year-old Najidan Sadick, also called ‘Aunty’ on March 4, 2011 at Gaulding Place, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown. Ms. Sadick, who lived alone, was bound and strangled.
Brandt is of African ancestry, brown in complexion, and his last known address is Lot 169 Stevedore Housing Scheme, Georgetown.
Anyone with information that may lead Roger Brandt’s arrest is asked to contact the police on telephone numbers 225-6411, 226-7065, 225-8196, 227-1149, 911 or the nearest police station. All information will be treated with strict confidence.