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Gladstone Taylor’s execution…Gunman was slain soldier’s brother- Eyewitnesses tell cops
The brother of army Lance Corporal, Kevon Payne, who was executed last Tuesday, was
Dead: Gladstone Taylor
identified by an eyewitness as the man, who walked up to Charlestown resident, Gladstone Taylor, and shot him dead.
It was based on this statement from the eyewitnesses that investigators apprehended the soldier’s brother, Vellone Thorne, Friday night, minutes after Taylor was executed in the presence of his 11-year-old son and other persons.
A second person, believed to be the rider who took Thorne to the scene, was also arrested. Both of them have denied being a part of the shooting.
The 54-year-old man of Lot 43, Adelaide Street, Charlestown, was shot at least four times in the vicinity of Adelaide and Sussex Streets around 21.00 hrs. He was pronounced dead at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
According to reports, Taylor, known as ‘Tuffy,’ was sitting at the corner of Adelaide and Sussex Streets, when two men on a CG motorcycle rode up and shot him several times before escaping.
Investigators are convinced that the execution-style killing of the father of five is linked to the soldier’s death.
Kaieteur News was told that Thorne’s hands were swabbed for traces of gunpowder but that the results are not available as yet.
Yesterday, Taylor’s wife, Michelle Taylor, said that she was in her bed when she heard a gunshot.
“I run to the front of my house to the verandah and I see the shooters hurrying to leave on a bike. Their faces were tied but while hurrying, the mask on Vellone face fall down. That’s how I identify him,” the grieving wife claimed.
Executed: Solider, Kevon Payne
Two other persons have identified Vellone Thorne as the shooter. The rider is an Albouystown resident.
The woman said that her husband was not involved in the soldier’s death and has no idea why the man’s brother would want her husband dead.
Relatives have confirmed that Taylor received several death threats after the soldier was executed.
Meanwhile, the soldier’s stepfather, Rudolph Thorne, in an interview yesterday defended his son, Vellone Thorne. He said that when Taylor was killed, his son was at a wake being held at their home for his dead stepson.
“My son has no reason to kill Tuffy. The police already arrested the people who killed my stepson so why Vellone would kill Tuffy?” the man questioned.
However, the older Thorne did admit that they had initially blamed a family member of Taylor’s for his stepson’s death.
The link between O’Riley Small’s execution…
According to Rudolph Thorne, when Small was gunned down on March 19, last, a nephew of Taylor was telling villagers that it was Vellone Thorne who had killed the former robbery accused.
Words got back to Vellone Thorne and he allegedly confronted Taylor’s nephew.
“My son confronted the nephew and later that day he (the nephew) came to me and tell me that Vellone said that the nephew was telling people that Vellone killed O’Riley. I told him not to worry with that because people already get charged,” Thorne said.
He added that later that day, his stepson, Payne, was executed.
“The same day my son and this boy had a confrontation, my stepson was killed so we thought that it was him but then we later learnt that it was the drug dealer who organized the hit,” the older Thorne said.
Vellone Thorne is in custody at the Brickdam Police Station.
Two of Taylor’s sons, Keron and Clive, were charged for the September 4, 2015 murder of East Ruimveldt resident, Senesie Lewis, 22, of Pineapple Street, East Ruimveldt. Lewis was gunned down in front of the popular Ghetto Flex nightspot, located at James and Albouys Streets, Albouystown.
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