Arson/murder at Port Kaituma…Residents saw trapped child screaming at window

Mar 16, 2014 News

– alleged killer tells cops he was depressed over debts

Port Kaituma residents yesterday recalled seeing a child screaming at a barred up window as flames engulfed the building that businessman Linus LaCruz had set alight with five family members inside last Friday.
They also spoke of later seeing police ranks removing human remains that were so badly burnt that they were carted away in buckets.
Police have identified the dead as Lurlene LaCruz, 39; her daughters, Lea LaCruz, 14, Lavette LaCruz, three; and sons Labron LaCruz, 8, and one-year-old Levon LaCruz. The suspect’s 12-year-old daughter, Lisa LaCruz, was the lone survivor.
She is said to be in the care of welfare officials.

This composite photo shows Lenus Lacruz and wife Lurlene with the children who perished. (Second from right is Lisa LaCruz). Missing is one Levon LaCruz who also died in the fire.

It is believed that the suspect, 50-year-old Linus LaCruz, soaked the heavily-grilled building with petrol before locking it from the outside and setting it alight. He sustained burns to the head, back and limbs and is being kept under guard at the Port Kaituma Hospital.
Kaieteur News understands that LaCruz has indicated to police that he committed the act in a fit of depression over debts. According to a source, LaCruz claimed that he owed several people money and “was depressed and frustrated.” A resident had told Kaieteur News on Friday that the businessman had appeared to be “stressed out.”
A police release stated that at about 20.45hrs on Friday, police ranks responded to a report made by a twelve-year-old girl at the Port Kaituma Station that her father and mother were involved in an argument and he had threatened to burn down their house at Main Road, Port Kaituma.
“On their way to the scene the police observed that the building was on fire and suspecting that persons were inside, attempted to enter the building, but was prevented from doing so by a locked grill door. The police ranks and nearby residents formed a bucket brigade but were unable to extinguish the blaze.” They said that the charred remains of housewife Lurlene LaCruz, 39, and her four children were later found among the debris.
Residents believe that some of the victims could have been saved had there been a fire station at Port Kaituma. Others suggested that ranks at the station, which is some two minutes away, did not immediately respond to the 12-year-old girl’s report. This newspaper was informed that only one rank was on duty at the time, while the others were resting.
One eyewitness said that the entire building was consumed within 20 minutes. He recalled arriving on the scene and hearing the children screaming inside. The eyewitness said he saw two men, who had come from a nearby church, trying in vain to smash open a barred-up window to get to the victims.
“Two guys who had come from the church were hitting a window with a big wood and when the window broke the flames jumped out,” he said. “We heard screams inside.”
According to another resident, “One of the children was at a window hollering for help, and when they (rescuers) broke the window, it was grilled.”
“They (the victims) were burnt to nothing. They were picking up the bodies in buckets, there was no way that you could have recognized them. It was very sad.”
Some reports suggest that Mrs. LaCruz was slain before the building was torched, since none of the eyewitnesses recalled seeing her in the building or hearing her screams.
Mrs. LaCruz’s sister, Marcia Garraway, who also resides at Port Kaituma, said that she ran outside after hearing shouts of ‘Fire.’ Ms. Garraway said that by the time she arrived, the flames had already engulfed the building and a store-room. She then learnt that her sister, nieces and nephews were still inside. “All the windows and doors were grilled; he padlocked the door from outside,” she said.
While some portrayed the suspect as a model resident and attentive family man, Marcia Garraway alleged that her sister had suffered years of physical abuse at the hands of her husband, whom she claimed often accused her of infidelity.
“The man don’t want her to have contact with her family. Last year he beat her and she end up in hospital.”
“He threaten her many times (but) she never made a report at the station. When he going anywhere he would lock her inside, and still he saying she got man. He jealous and ignorant.”
However, the sister said that LaCruz also tried to hide the abuse from her family.