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Gunned down Brazilian miner… Mother relives son’s senseless killing with investigators
The victim’s mother shows investigators where her son was killed.
Dead: Estevao Costa Marques
The mother of Estevao Costa Marques, the Brazilian miner who was allegedly murdered last Saturday afternoon by two police ranks raiding camps in the Puruni River, Essequibo, told detectives of how she begged the police man not to shoot her son.
Marques was shot and killed around 13:00 hrs Saturday, when two police ranks were carrying out a raid, which miners in the area claim is normally more like a shakedown, since when undocumented miners are found, the police “take a money” and let them go.
One such raid was reportedly being carried out by the two police ranks. As they approached the camp owned by the victim’s mother, Maria de Nazaré Costa Marques, the man made a run for the bushes after he saw the police. A witness claims that “the police just point his gun and fired two shots”, with one hitting the young Marques in his back and the other hitting him at the back of his head. The witness opined that the man fell dead instantly, as “his head exploded”.
The witness said after the police shot the man, they clearly began to panic.
“They were attempting to dispose of the body; at one time they even tried to burn the body, but other miners started to create a scene. They (police) were telling the people to clear the area, but all the miners in the area came out and kept a watchful eye on them.
The man’s mother held onto the body for dear life, while the two cops made several attempts to get the body away from her, when they finally did get the body from the mother, they wrapped the body in a plastic and placed it in the boat they had come to the location with, and they then headed for the Puruni Landing.”
This didn’t sit well with the mother who was still reeling from shock, and this was evident in a video that was seen by this publication, of the scene at the Puruni Landing, where the two cops could be seen in the boat with the body while the mother went in and out of consciousness as she mourned her son’s demise.
After news of what transpired reached Bartica, the Guyana Police Force issued a statement indicating that “a Subordinate Officer and a constable had been arrested following a report of alleged murder committed on a Brazilian national who was a miner in the Puruni District”.
The Force said that “initial enquiries revealed that the Subordinate Officer and Constable of Kurupung Police Station abandoned the said Station sometime on Saturday morning, leaving on an ATV for patrol duties, armed with a .30 Carbine Rifle and subsequently joined a boat and proceeded to a Landing along the Puruni River.
On arrival at the Landing sometime around midday on Saturday, the Subordinate Officer claimed that he remained in the boat while the Constable armed with the rifle, exited and proceeded to a shop and shortly after two loud explosions were heard, which caused him (the Subordinate Officer) to proceed to make enquiries.
The Subordinate Officer also mentioned that the Constable told him that a male discharged a round at him and he returned fire. The body of a male Brazilian was seen lying on the ground a short distance away; he was picked up, placed in a boat and taken to the main Landing.
About this very time, another Subordinate Officer and a Detective Constable of Bartica Police Station who were in the said area on duty investigating a report of alleged threats, arrived at the scene and took possession of the firearm which was in possession of the Constable and alerted the Divisional Commander. “
Video footage received by this publication of the mother of the victim showing crime scene investigators how her son was killed, tells a tale of horror. The mother showed the police how the cop came into the camp; the path which her son ran; and even where he was shot and killed. The woman became very emotional as she stood at the location where her son fell dead after being shot.
The police could be seen in the video gesturing to the woman to be calm. The pain of the mother could be heard in the shrills in her voice, the woman could be clearly saying in English with a heavy Portuguese accent, “me tell police, no please, no please, no don’t shoot this man, this man good man, don’t shoot, don’t shoot, DON’T SHOOT.”
The woman went on to show police what could only be considered a nightmare for a mother.
The video of the victim’s mother walking crime scene investigators through what transpired up to seeing her son being killed, can be seen online in the video link below: (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSRD31iXzzdW53ASXayo5IQ?view_as=subscriber)
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