Murder and Mystery Ambush on the Kuribrong trail

Sep 29, 2019 Murder and Mystery, News

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By Michael Jordan

Jacqueline Bobb got the bad news just when she was having a good time.
It was Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019, and she was on the beach with hundreds of others at the popular Bartica Regatta. But by 6:00 p.m., Jacqueline was ready to call it a day. She was walking near Third Avenue, Bartica, heading to her home, when a woman she knew came up to her.
“Yuh hear what happen to yuh son?” the woman asked. The woman was referring to 32-year-old driver/mechanic Perion Nicholas Bobb, who took mining equipment, ration and other items to the interior in a Land Cruiser.

“No,” Ms. Bobb replied.
“— shoot he,” the woman said, calling the name of a man they both knew.
In trepidation, Jacqueline Bobb rushed to the Bartica Police Station. There she saw her son’s boss, a well-known dredge owner. He gave her the grim news.
The story she reportedly heard was that Perion Bobb, accompanied by a miner, was shuttling the miner’s equipment along a trail in the Kuribrong Backdam, Potaro River, when they saw a truck heading towards them. Bobb allegedly stopped to allow the other truck to pass.
Instead, one of the men allegedly pointed a gun at Bobb’s vehicle and fired. The bullet, reportedly from a .38 revolver, tore through the Land Cruiser, struck Bobb in the stomach, and embedded itself in one of the seats.
The miner who was with Bobb reportedly said that he flung himself down in the back of the Land Cruiser to avoid being shot. There were also claims that the killers abducted him, though how he allegedly escaped is unclear.

Jacqueline Bobb says she was told that her son was left to bleed to death in his vehicle, because no one in the area attempted to come to his aid.
When police ranks eventually reached the scene, they found Perion Bobb’s body slumped in his cruiser along the Kuribrong trail.
The miner who was travelling with Bobb reportedly identified two miners as the individuals who carried out the ambush. One of the suspects was said to have a physical disability.
One report suggested that the killing might have been in retaliation over Bobb reporting that he had seen some men stripping a vehicle. This led police to detain two of the suspect’s associates. Eventually, the man with the physical disability turned himself in.
All the suspects were eventually released.
Jacqueline Bobb correctly suggests that any gunpowder residue would have been long gone by the time the men were held.
In a twist in the case, police also detained the miner who alleged that he had escaped after being abducted. He too, was released, and the Kuribrong trail ambush appeared to have reached a dead end.
But Jacqueline Bobb continued to ask questions. She rejected the theory that someone killed her son in retaliation for him reporting that he had seen them stripping a vehicle.
Even before he was slain, Perion Bobb had reportedly alleged that the same suspects had threatened and assaulted him. And a woman was allegedly at the centre of the trouble.

Mrs. Bobb says she learnt that Perion had helped a young woman to get a job as a cook in a Kuribrong mining concession. He would reportedly sometimes visit the camp. Some individuals in the camp were reportedly not pleased with this.
On March 24, 2019, Perion Bobb reportedly visited the camp and the woman invited him to stay the night. That was reportedly when two men, whom she identified, allegedly assaulted Bobb and threatened to “shoot up” his Land Cruiser.
Bobb reportedly told a close associate with whom he worked. The friend reportedly assaulted one of the men. After that same night on the landing, the miner who was assaulted, allegedly fired several shots at Perion Bobb’s friend and other associates.
On March 29, Bobb allegedly visited the Bartica Police Station and reported the incidents. It was then that he learnt that the alleged shooter had already filed a complaint at the same station.
According to Mrs. Bobb, ranks at the Bartica Police Station contacted the alleged shooter and told him to report to the station. He never did, she said.

Armed with this information, Mrs. Bobb contacted the Guyana Women Miners’ Organisation (GWMO) and visited Commissioner of Police Leslie James thrice.
She received a statement from the GWMO that the DPP had advised that the police conduct “specific further investigations”, then return the file for legal advice. She was also told that, “one person of interest is still being sought.”
Since then, police have sent out wanted bulletins for two individuals in connection with Perion Bobb’s murder.
One is for Farouk Khan, 25, whose last known address is Byderabo Road, Bartica. It stated that Khan is wanted for questioning in relation to April 21 murder of Perion Bobb, which occurred at Kuribrong.
The other, sent out recently, is for Jamal Bazilio, called “Jammings.”
Police said Bazilio last resided in South Ruimveldt, Georgetown.
Anyone with information that may lead Bazilio’s arrest can contact the police on telephone numbers 225-3650, 225-8196, 226-2870, 226-6978, 455-2238, 911 or the nearest police station.
All information will be treated with the strictest confidence.
“I am hoping now that the whole truth will come out,” Mrs. Bobb said. “Somebody knows who shot my son, because everybody (in the area) knows everybody else there.”

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 225-8465, 225-8491 or 225-8473. You need not disclose your identity.
You can also contact Michael Jordan at his email address [email protected]

 

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