Cops look at love triangle as motive in Tain domestic worker’s murder

Feb 10, 2017 News

-man suspected of hiring killers

Police have detained a 25-year-old barber for the murder of domestic worker, Leelawattie

Leelawattie Mohamed

Mohamed, as they investigate reports that a jealous woman may have hired the killers.
Detectives from ‘B’ Division have received reports that the detained man had repeatedly threatened Mohamed and her family.
He is also said to be in a relationship with an overseas-based woman, with whose husband Mohamed was having an affair.
Initial reports had suggested that Mohamed, 45, was the victim of two ‘kick-down-the door’ bandits, who shot her dead after she said she had no money.
But investigators now appear certain that the intruders were hired to kill Mohamed. They have received reports that the 45-year-old mother of four was in a relationship with a businessman, whose wife lives overseas.
Reports also suggest that the man detectives are questioning was recruited to organise the hit.
“We don’t think that this is a robbery,” a senior police official told Kaieteur News. “Thieves don’t operate like this. They may shoot you in the foot, or they may threaten your children. These men didn’t ever search the house for money.”
The official described the detained barber as “someone who is always in trouble,” and who has been hostile to Mohamed and her children.
“We have also gotten information that he was looking for somebody to kill the lady.” Investigators were also told that the detained man was in a relationship with the woman, who is suspected to have paid for Mohamed’s execution.
But ‘B’ Division Commander Ian Amsterdam indicated that detectives still have no solid evidence, and his detectives are investigating all possible leads.

The slain woman’s house.

“We are working on some other information, both local and overseas, that (suggests) we need to look in a different direction; that it may have been an execution that was allegedly ordered by another female.”
“We don’t know if it is so, or if the husband knows. That is something we need to check out. We have to dig a little deeper. We have some persons we are talking to and we are looking at some other areas. We are getting the information, and we are calling in the persons for questioning.”
Leelawattie Mohamed, of Lot 149, Sixth Street, Tain Settlement, Corentyne, was shot close range in her home at around 23.45 hrs on Tuesday, in the presence of her two teenage children.
From reports gathered, Mohamed and two teenage children were at home when two men, who were clad in black, barged into their premises.
The son, Ashad Ishack, said that he was at home with his mother and sister when he heard someone kicking on the front door. He stated that within minutes, three masked men, one armed with a shotgun, barged in and ordered them to lie on the floor.
“Dem hold meh mommy by she hair and ask she where de money deh and she tell dem she nah got, and dem put the gun at she throat and shoot she.”
He related that the killers escaped through the same door before scaling a fence and firing a shot in the air as they ran towards the backlands.
Mohamed is said to have previously resided in Bloomfield Village, Corentyne. That property was burned down, allegedly by arsonists, some years ago.
Mohamed then moved into the house where she was slain.
Meanwhile, an autopsy revealed that Mohamed died from shock and hemorrhage due to gunshots wounds, laceration of the brain and fracture of the skull.