Latest update January 31st, 2025 7:15 AM
Latest News
- Exxon deal cannot be reversed – Min. Teixeira tells National Assembly
- Norton slams govt. heavy reliance on oil fund for 2025 Budget amid declining oil prices
- 67 killed after jet hits helicopter in Washington
- Man killed after concrete slab collapsed on him
- 16-yr-old girl killed by 40-yr-old lover at Baramita
Cops detain husband of slain cash crop farmer
– ‘mystery’ call believed made to throw sleuths off track
Last week’s bizarre murder of cash crop farmer Pamela Kendall took an even stranger twist yesterday, with police taking the slain woman’s reputed husband into custody, while hinting that they are close to solving the case.
Police detained Kendall’s spouse, Deochand Sookchand, reportedly after unearthing evidence that 56-year-old Kendall may not have been the victim of a robbery attempt. Police are set to bring Sookchand to Georgetown for further questioning.
Investigators had also detained a Number 51 Village, Corentyne robbery suspect, but it is unclear whether he is still in custody.
Police appear to have been suspicious from the outset about the circumstances surrounding the ‘home invasion,’ which occurred at around 18.00 hrs last week Thursday during a power outage.
They also noticed a number of inconsistencies in statements that they took from a man that they questioned. The slain woman’s husband also confirmed that investigators had swabbed his hands for traces of gunpowder.
Detectives believe that the killer or an accomplice made a ‘mystery call’ to the victim’s home shortly after the murder to throw them off track. The caller had reportedly said “don’t call my name in anything,” before hanging up.
Investigators have obtained phone records of calls made around that time, but officials declined to say whether they have been able to trace the call.
Murdered: Pamela Kendall
Kendall, a cash crop farmer, was reportedly shot shortly after she entered the back door of the family’s home, located near the Number 45 Village Public Road. She managed to run from her home, only to collapse in her brother’s yard, located a few houses away.
Sookchand had said that he believed that the gunman and an accomplice had planned to rob them and shot his wife after she screamed.
Sookchand, an NDC employee, had related that the killer struck shortly after the couple had entered their home. He said he was having a bath downstairs and his wife was about to close the back door when he heard a single gunshot, and his wife’s screams.
According to Sookchand, he began to scream to alert the neighbours, while one of the alleged bandits armed with a gun ran upstairs. Within minutes the intruder returned downstairs and he, along with an accomplice, fled into the backlands.
In a later interview, Sookchand said he was in the bathroom and had just told his wife to close the back door, when he heard her scream. This was followed by a gunshot. He said that he hid in the bathroom and the intruder peered inside, but did not enter. He reportedly heard the man whispering to someone, and this led him to believe the killer had an accomplice.
Sookchand said that he later ran outside to assist his wife, but she had managed to run to her brother’s residence, approximately 100 yards away. She was later pronounced dead at the Skeldon Public Hospital.
Sookchand suggested that the killer left without taking anything, after failing to find anyone in the premises that he could have forced to hand over anything of value. He also suggested that the power outage may have deterred the gunman from searching the house.
Police reportedly found a spent shell and a bullet in the kitchen.
Robert Kendall, the murdered woman’s brother, said his sister had no problems with her spouse or with anyone in the community. Kendall however recounted that the bandits had robbed the couple on three previous occasions.
Last week, several Number 45 Village, Corentyne, Berbice residents blocked the main roadway for about an hour to vent their outrage their outrage over Kendall’s murder and the recent spate of violent robberies in their community.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Show us the numbers!
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- The government through its superior management of the economy says that it has bestowed... 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
