The body in the blue car

Nov 22, 2015 Features / Columnists, Murder and Mystery

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– Did a woman plan and execute this cold-blooded murder?

By Michael Jordan
No one saw when the blue car, PEE 587, entered Eighth Street, Diamond Housing Scheme, on the night of Friday, May 16, 2008. But there it was the next day, parked on the roadway facing west; windows wound up, doors locked.

Some just gave it a cursory glance and went about their business. But when no one came to claim the mysterious vehicle, other residents suspected that mischief was afoot and called the police.
The cops from the Golden Grove Station arrived at around 06:30 hrs. They eventually managed to open the car doors and pop the trunk. That was when the case turned quickly from suspected car theft to one of cold-blooded murder.
Trussed up inside the trunk was the body of a middle-aged man of Indian ancestry. He was fully clothed, but his shoes were missing.
Someone had wrapped strips of bicycle tubing and duct tape around his mouth and nostrils. It was later ascertained that the victim had suffered a fractured larynx and had suffocated.
Detectives recovered $40, a wristwatch, a camera, a national identification card and other documents from the body.
At around 10:30 hrs, while the detectives were still scouring the area, a man who identified himself as Ganesh Persaud, arrived at the scene. He was allowed past the police cordon to view the body. The man took one look at the corpse and burst into tears.
He identified the victim as his brother, 52-year-old Ganga Persaud, a resident of Nineteenth Street, Diamond Housing Scheme.
Persaud had lived in the United States but returned to Guyana about four years prior. His children still resided in the U.S., while Persaud lived with his reputed wife and her small son in Diamond Housing Scheme.
The brother told the police that he last saw his older sibling alive at around 14:00 hrs on Friday, May 16, 2008, at an Eccles fishing complex. He recalled buying a quantity of ‘wire-rope’ for his sibling.
Ganga Persaud reportedly then went home, but, according to his reputed wife, went out again at around 17:00 hrs that day.
According to this report, the remigrant had informed his wife that he was going to a popular liquor restaurant in Kitty. He allegedly called her at around 22:00 hrs that same day, to say that he was in the vicinity of the Agricola Public Road and was on his way home. That was the last contact she allegedly had with him.
Detectives were told that at around 05:00 hrs the following day, Ganga Persaud’s reputed wife contacted her brother-in-law and his wife by telephone and informed them that Persaud had not returned.
Shortly after, Persaud’s spouse allegedly called again and said that the police had located her spouse’s car but had not found him.
They were eventually informed that his body had been found.
At first glance, the case appeared to be one of robbery and murder. But the detectives sensed that this was not the motive. Because the car was facing west, some of the detectives felt that Persaud had not driven from Georgetown into Diamond Housing Scheme.
They believed, rather, that Persaud was murdered close to his home in Nineteenth Street. They surmised that the killer or killers then drove Persaud’s car, with the corpse inside, to Eighth Street.
And a possible motive soon began to emerge…
Murder for gain?
I arrived at the Grove Police Station just as police were preparing to take statements from the murdered man’s relatives. A young woman, accompanied by a little boy, was standing in the compound.
Someone informed me that the woman was Ganga Persaud’s reputed wife, so I decided to speak with her.
I was somewhat taken aback when she gave me an enigmatic smile and said: “I know you, you spoke to me before about a robbery story.”
Before I could question her further, she was escorted into the police station.
The woman and two male relatives were subsequently detained.
Intrigued by the woman’s statement, I went through my computer files and discovered that I had not only spoken to Ganga Persaud’s reputed wife before, but had also interviewed Ganga Persaud himself four years before…
Back in October 2004, I had rushed to Diamond Housing Scheme after being tipped off about an armed robbery. The victim turned out to be Ganga Persaud, a remigrant.
Persaud told me that two gunmen had invaded his home in Nineteenth Street, in broad daylight.
At the time, a female associate and a toddler were the only persons at home.
According to Persaud, the woman alleged that two men with handguns had tied her to a grill door and threatened to kill the toddler.
She also claimed that she was forced to direct the ‘bandits’ to a wardrobe containing some US$900, $100,000 in local currency and a quantity of jewellery, which belonged to Persaud.
But in 2006, Persaud contacted me and said that he subsequently learned that the same woman had deposited about $200,000 in a city bank shortly after the heist.
He said that the female associate was unable to explain how she acquired the money.
Persaud also said that some of the jewellery that the ‘gunmen’ had allegedly stolen eventually turned up in his house.
The woman was reportedly placed on $75,000 bail after being charged with simple larceny.
However, the accused reportedly fled the jurisdiction shortly after. However, the woman reportedly returned to the area and she and Persaud allegedly resumed their relationship.
Detectives, I learned, were working on the theory that a woman, possibly with the assistance of others, had murdered Persaud at or near his home.
But leaving no stone unturned, the investigators searched Persaud’s home for rubber tubing and duct tape that were similar to those that were used to suffocate him. They found none.
The detectives also kept Persaud’s reputed wife and two male relatives in custody for two days. However, they were eventually released.
No one else was ever arrested and from all appearances, the murder of Ganga Persaud has been relegated to the ‘unsolved cases’ file.
Ganga Persaud’s relatives are convinced that they know the identity of at least one of the killers.
Meanwhile, I am left to wonder about the meaning behind a woman’s enigmatic smile…

If you have any information on this case or other unusual incident please contact us at our Lot 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown offices.
You can also reach us on telephone numbers: 22-58458, 22-58491, or 22-58465. You need not disclose your identity.
You can also contact Michael Jordan on his email address [email protected].

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