Latest update February 8th, 2025 5:56 AM
Latest News
- Soaring gold price entices Canadian company to renew permits in Guyana
- Terrence Campbell accuses Govt. of weaponizing Police Force after calls for accountability with oil revenues
- China slams US as Panama quits Belt and Road Initiative
- Guyana extradites fugitive to Canada
- AFC Leader Nigel Hughes welcomes any investigation into lands he acquired
Police detective recalls discovery of corpse in septic tank
Trio on trial for murder at Campbellville …
Police Detective Kevin Herbert told the court yesterday, that on January 6, 2008, he conducted an investigation, which led to the discovery of a body submerged in a septic tank at Lot 55,William Street, Campbellville.
Anthony De Paul Hope is accused conspiring with others to murder his aunt, Colleen Forrester
The officer detailed to the court, that he initially launched an investigation into a missing person’s report, but the search uncovered a more heinous crime.
The body of 56-year-old Colleen Forrester was found bound in a septic tank. She had been murdered allegedly by her nephew, Anthony De Paul Hope, called ‘Papa’, 27, of ‘C’ Field Sophia, RalphTyndall, 28, of ‘C’ Field, Sophia; and 28-year old Kevin O’Neil of Seaforth Street, Campbellville.
The three men became suspects after Forrester disappeared on December 27, 2007. The woman was last seen at her brother’s house at Lot 55, William Street, Campbellville.
She was reported missing after neighbours noticed something was amiss and raised an alarm.
On January 6, 2008, her body was found by police ranks; her ankles were bound and her body wrapped in sheets before it was tossed into the septic tank. Investigations later led to the arrest of the woman’s nephew and his two friends.
Forrester was allegedly strangled and beaten to death with a pestle (mortar stick) by the trio, who are currently facing a murder trial before Justice Roxanne George and a mixed jury at the High Court in Georgetown.
Yesterday, State Prosecutors Stacey Goodings, Diana Kaulesar and Shawnette Austin called Detective Herbert to the stand.
He testified that he initially visited the lot 55, William Street, Campbellville residence to conduct an investigation following a missing person’s report.
The detective said that he found Hope and O’Neil at the house and told them that he was there to conduct a search.
The policeman said that while searching the house, he saw what appeared to be blood stains on the interior of a bedroom located south east of the building.
The witness told the court that he then questioned the men about the suspected blood stains but Hope told him that he got dig on his foot. The detective said that he asked the accused to show him the injury but when he did, his foot appeared normal; there were no visible injuries.
The detective said that after conducting a thorough search on the house, he began to investigate the yard, in the presence of another police rank and the two accused. Herbert recalled that blood stains led down a stairs to an area where the septic tank was located. He recounted that there was a foul stench coming from the direction of the septic tank.
The policeman said that he instructed that the cover of the tank be removed. It revealed the body of a human dumped inside the sewerage system.
The detective said that the workers attached to Lykens funeral home were call in and the body was taken from the septic tank. He explained that two sheets that had been wrapped around the corpse had to be removed to reveal the body, which was subsequently identified by Cleon Forrester to be his mother, Colleen Forrester.
The detective related that he cautioned the two accused (Hope and O Neil) and told them that he had reason to believe that they had participated in the murder of Colleen Forrester, but they both remained silent. He told the court the men were then arrested and placed in police custody.
Forrester’s remains, the detective recalled, was taken to the Lyken’s Funeral Home and then Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, (GPHC) where a post mortem examination was conducted. He said that items including “a bucket, silver coloured basin and two jeans” were also collected from the property as part of the evidence, for forensic processing. The items were presented and admitted as part of the evidence in the trial, yesterday.
The witness was then briefly cross examined by Attorneys-at-Law, Madan Kissoon. Kissoon along with Attorneys George Thomas and Melvin Duke, are providing legal representation to the three accused persons.
While under cross examination, the officer agreed to a suggestion made by Tyndall’s lawyer (Kissoon), that he (Tyndall) was not present at the time the items were found on the premises. The police witness, however, disagreed that nothing of evidential value against Tyndall, were among the items collected from the property.
The trial continues tomorrow.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Due diligence on investments must become a priority
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- In 1985, the Forbes Burnham government looking for economic salvation, entered into a memorandum... more
OAS Secretary General Election and renewed OAS Consensus
Antiguan Barbudan Ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- The upcoming election... more
Weekend Cartoon
