The case of the sleeping carpenter

Jun 24, 2018 Features / Columnists, Murder and Mystery

Vikesh Budhram

By Michael Jordan
It was at around 23:00 hrs on Saturday, November 22, 2008, that police ranks from the East Coast of Demerara rushed to Lot 642 Seventeenth Street, Foulis, to find themselves confronted by one of the most mysterious cases to come out of the crime wave period.
The home belonged to Vikesh Budhram, a 25-year-old carpenter, who lived there with his reputed wife, Basmattie, the couple’s two daughters, aged two and one year respectively, and their grandmother.
When the cops arrived, a hysterical Basmattie informed them that Vikesh was dead.
According to the woman, she, Vikesh and the one-year-old daughter had retired to bed in the same room. The two-year-old daughter and Vikesh’s mother had occupied another room.
Basmattie said that at around 23:00 hrs, she was awakened by a loud explosion in the bedroom. The woman claimed that she opened her eyes in time to see two masked men in dark clothing fleeing the room.
According to Basmattie, her reputed husband was still lying on the bed, she shook him. It was then that she saw the blood gushing from his neck. Basmattie claimed that Vikesh tried to speak, but was unable to. She then called out to neighbours, but no one came.
Vikesh succumbed shortly after from a wound to the right side of the neck.
Detectives recovered a bullet casing and a warhead similar to those used in AK-47 and M70 assault rifles.
Checking the scene further, they discovered that someone had removed the louvre panes from a window in the bottom flat.
It appeared that the killers entered through the bottom flat via the window, then proceeded to the upper flat, where they shot the sleeping carpenter.
But detectives were baffled. For one thing, there appeared to be no clear motive.
The killers had apparently fled the home without touching the family’s valuables.
The other thing that was puzzling was the fact that the gunmen had apparently known which bedroom Vikesh had occupied.
The investigators were also baffled by the fact that, apart from the victim’s wife, no one else in the household had seen the killers.
Indeed, no one in the neighbourhood had seen the fleeing men.
Dhanmattie Budhram, the murdered man’s mother, recalled being awakened by the gunshot and hearing her daughter-in-law screaming. She also recalled hearing someone running in the house. At the time, she had assumed that it was her son running to investigate.
It was then that her daughter-in-law called out to say that Vikesh had been shot.
And there appeared to be no reason for anyone wanting to kill the young carpenter.
Relatives and neighbours described him as a peaceful, hard-working individual who appeared to have no problems with anyone.
An autopsy would later reveal that the gunman had shot Budhram at very close range, since there were burn marks around the wound.
Ballistic tests failed to match the bullet casing and warhead to any known weapon.
The detectives were also bothered by what appeared to be conflicting statements from the victim’s family members, and particularly by the fact that only one occupant of the home had seen the killers.
They took Vikesh’s reputed wife into custody. However, the woman stuck to her story and police were unable to find anything to incriminate her in the man’s death.
They also detained two of the victim’s brothers, but they, too, were eventually released.
Police officials say they have no new information on the baffling death of Vikesh Budhram.
If you have any information about other unusual cases, please contact Kaieteur News at our Lot 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown location.
We can be reached on telephone numbers 22-58465, 22-58491 or 22-58473.
You can also contact Michael Jordan at his email address mjdragon@hotmail.com.or kamarangnight@gmail.com

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