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2012 murder of Mahaica trucker… Cops grill slain man’s lover, jilted husband
- alleged gunman, plotters still in custody
Jadesh Dass
Detectives have questioned the Chelsea Park, Mahaica woman whose love affair with 31-year-old Jadesh Dass led to her brother-in-law hiring a gunman to execute him four years ago.
Police have also questioned the woman’s husband to ascertain what role, if any, he played in the murder.
Still in custody are the alleged gunman, who is from Albouystown, his sister, who allegedly ‘recruited him’, and a Chelsea Park, Mahaica businessman who is the jilted man’s brother.
They were detained on Friday.
The gunman has reportedly told investigators that the businessman paid him half-a million dollars to kill Dass who was having an affair with his sister-in-law.
Yesterday, a relative of the slain trucker expressed shock that individuals that they had known practically all their lives could have placed so little value on a human life.
“We felt happy in one way (that the case had been solved) but we are shocked that someone could be murdered for so little money,” one female relative said.
Dass’ body, with two bullet wounds to the head, was found on the parapet of the Mahaica New Road on April 17, 2012, some hours after he had left home with the intention of picking up a load of sand at a pit on the Soesdyke/Linden highway.
Relatives of the slain trucker have repeatedly told Kaieteur News that Dass was murdered over an affair that he was having with a woman in the area, and this was reportedly confirmed by at least one of the detained men.
From questioning the gunman, who hails from Albouystown, detectives have learned that a Chelsea Park, Mahaica businessman was furious that Dass was having an affair with his (the businessman’s) sister-in-law.
He then confided in a woman with links to Mahaica and Albouystown. She in turn, recruited her 30-year-old brother to do the job.
The alleged gunman reportedly told investigators that he was given a $200,000 ‘down-payment’, and collected a further $300,000 after the ‘job’ was done.
In the early hours of April 17, 2012, the gunman and other plotters parked a truck on Mahaica New Road. Leaving the hazard light on, the men pretended that the vehicle had broken down.
The men were fully aware that 31-year-old Jadesh Dass, also a trucker, would pass that route on his way to Soesdyke, and that he would stop to help.
Dass, had left his mother’s home around 01.00 hrs, and as the men had predicted, stopped to help. When he exited his vehicle, they shot him dead.
Even back then, some of the slain man’s relatives had suspected that he was slain because of a relationship he was having with the wife of a businessman in the community.
The trucker had reportedly confided in an in-law about the affair.
Back then, a female relative had told Kaieteur News that she and the woman had lived “like family.” That changed after the murder and subsequent investigation.
Acting on rumours of the ‘affair,’ detectives had detained three men from a trucking firm. Police also questioned the slain driver’s alleged lover. She denied having an affair with Dass. They eventually released the three men on $100,000 bail each.
Flashback: Relatives at the scene
Dass’ relative said that at first, the suspects had kept a low profile in the community.
But as time passed, they began to mingle again with residents, and she began to wonder whether they might be innocent.
“We began to wonder if it could have been somebody else (behind the killing). But if it was somebody else, why kill him in Mahaica?”
The relative said that she was shocked when she came face to face with the handcuffed suspects last week at CID Headquarters, Eve Leary.
Yesterday, she commended the police for ensuring that the family would finally receive some measure of justice.
“We were feeling as if nobody cared. Every year, we go to the spot where it happened and we would carry wreaths and flowers. We would also put red flowers, because red was his favourite colour.
He was even wearing a red shirt when he was killed.”
The investigation is being spearheaded by the Force’s major Crimes Unit, which is being commended for solving several difficult murder cases in recent months.
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