Kescia Branche murder…Detained taxi driver claims car damaged in pothole

Dec 01, 2017 News

– as investigators check his alibi, take DNA samples

As they focus the spotlight on taxi driver Matthew Munroe, detectives are paying keen interest in his movements between the night of Saturday, November 4 and Sunday, November 5, when his friend, Kescia Branche, was found badly injured on Louisa Row.
He is also being questioned about how his now-impounded vehicle sustained damage, apparently around the same time.
Kaieteur News has learnt that Munroe claims that his car, which had a bumper missing, sustained damage when he drove in a pothole in an area on the East Coast Demerara.
However, police sources said that he was unable to identify the area on the East Coast of Demerara where the alleged mishap occurred.
Branche sustained a broken right leg and head injuries, which an autopsy indicated she may have sustained when she was struck by a vehicle.
Police have established that the detained driver was still in Guyana up to Sunday, November 5, when the badly injured teacher was found. According to police, he travelled overseas “for a vacation” on Monday, November 6.
Asked how well he may have known Branche, investigators have stated that Munroe and Ms. Branche were “good friends.”
Munroe was taken into custody last Friday, when he returned from his overseas vacation. Police have reportedly taken DNA samples from him, as they have done from at least four other men, who were detained in the early stages of the investigation.
Twenty-two year-old Kescia Branche was found badly battered on November 5, last, and succumbed without regaining consciousness. In the early stages of the investigation, police detained two police ranks, a male friend, and the father of Branche’s child.

Kescia Branche

Among those questioned was a constable who claimed that he had transported Branche to Prashad Nagar on his motorcycle and dropped her off there. Two other policemen claimed that they had spoken to Branche in Kitty, after seeing her standing near a night club waiting for a taxi. They alleged that they accompanied her to a Mandela Avenue barbecue joint. One rank alleged that he went home to use a washroom, and when he returned, the teacher and his colleague were gone.
Acting Crime Chief, Paul Williams has vowed that his investigators will track down the young woman’s killer(s), while appealing to her relatives, friends, and the public for patience and cooperation.