Arson/murder at Port Kaituma…Top Cop orders probe into response of ranks to survivor’s report

Mar 17, 2014 News

Limus La Cruz with his wife Lurlene and three of their children. Lisa (second from right) is the lone survivor.

– DNA samples taken to ID victims

Did ranks at the Port Kaituma Police Station ignore 12-year-old Lisa La Cruz when she told them of her stepfather’s threats to her family?
Police Commissioner Leroy Brummel intends to get to the truth and has ordered an investigation into allegations that ranks at the Port Kaituma Police Station did not respond immediately when the child went there on Friday night.
Describing the allegation as a “serious” one, the Police Commissioner disclosed yesterday that he had asked Divisional Commander, Snr. Supt. Courtney Ramsay, to conduct an investigation.
“I have called him and we are investigating,” the Top Cop said.
Kaieteur News has been reliably informed that the on-duty rank repeatedly ignored the 12-year-old when she told him about her father’s threats. Instead, he reportedly told the child to ask her father to come to the station.
According to a source who spoke to the 12-year-old, Lisa La Cruz told the rank (name given) that her stepfather, Linus La Cruz, was threatening to burn down their house.
“She said she went to (rank’s name given) and said that her stepfather was threatening to burn down the house, and he (the rank) said ‘Tell your stepfather that (name given) say to come to the station’.”
According to the source, the 12-year-old told the rank ‘you not listening,’ and again explained about the threats that her stepfather was making, “and he said again, “tell your stepfather that—say to come to the station, and by the time she reached back (home) she saw the fire,” the source said.

Kaieteur News was told that the child began “screaming hysterically,” and appeared to be having difficulty breathing. A few residents then moved her from the scene and took her to the Port Kaituma Hospital.
While declining to speculate whether the five victims could have been saved, the resident stated that “even if he could not have done anything, he could have gotten up” immediately to investigate the report.
Another source estimates that police arrived some five minutes after Lisa La Cruz had made the report, and the building was practically engulfed by then.
This resident opined that ‘the police did their best,’ and it was the absence of proper fire-fighting staff and equipment that caused the tragedy.
Kaieteur News was told that the only firefighting equipment at the interior location is a two-wheeled pump, which can only work when water is accessible.
A resident who is part of Port Kaituma’s makeshift firefighting team said that he tied a rope to the grillwork at the front door and to his vehicle in a vain attempt to save the trapped occupants.
The suspect’s wife, Lurlene LaCruz, 39; her daughters, Lea LaCruz, 14; Lavette LaCruz, three; and sons Labron LaCruz, 8, and one-year-old Levon LaCruz, all perished in the inferno.
Yesterday, a pathologist visited the scene of the fire to take DNA samples from the survivor, Lisa La Cruz, an aunt, and the suspect, Linus La Cruz, who sustained burns and is under guard at the Port Kaituma Hospital.
DNA samples were also taken from the human remains that were retrieved from the scene. A resident had stated that the victims “were burnt to nothing,” and investigators were “picking up the bodies in buckets.”
There are reports that La Cruz was still in the building when it was well ablaze and exited at the last moment.
Kaieteur News understands that Mr. LaCruz has indicated to police that he committed the act in a fit of depression over debts. According to a source, the businessman claimed that he owed several people money and “was depressed and frustrated.”
Also yesterday, some Port Kaituma residents said that they were still trying to understand what caused La Cruz to commit the heinous act.
“Nobody knows him to be a violent person. He was one o the best parents in our community,” one resident said. He was supportive…what went wrong?”
But Mrs. LaCruz’s sister, Marcia Garraway, alleged that her sister had suffered years of physical abuse at the hands of her husband, whom she claimed often accused his spouse of infidelity.
However, the sister said that LaCruz also tried to hide the abuse from her family and never made a report to the police.