Elderly couple killed, house set on fire

Jan 18, 2023 News

…man confesses, tells police intention was to rob couple but he along with accomplice were identified

By Malisa Playter-Harry

Kaieteur News – An elderly couple was on early Tuesday morning found brutally murdered and their two-storey concrete home which also housed an off-licence liquor, beverage and grocery store was partially destroyed by fire at Yakusari, Black Bush Polder, Region Six.

Dead: Sarasuati Devi Budraj

The murdered couple was identified as 60-year-old Sarasuati Devi Budraj called ‘Sita’, and 68-year-old Subnauth Budraj called ‘Bull boy’.

Dead: Subnauth Budraj

Reports are that at about 04:00h an explosion was heard coming from the couple’s home. Neighbours were alarmed and peeped to see what caused the explosion. Through their windows, they saw smoke and flames coming from a section of the couple’s home.

The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) were alerted and arrived on the scene shortly after. Fire Units from the Skeldon Fire Station Responded.

The fire was put out and the lifeless and partially burnt bodies of the Budraj’s were found.

When police arrived, Subnauth Budraj was found motionless on the ground near the door, close to the shop area in an upward position with burns about his body and wounds to his neck. As police scanned the location Subnauth’s wife was found in the dining area, face down with an object stuck in her neck and her left arm completely burnt off.

“The building was set on fire with the perception to derail us from what we are looking at,” Commander Bacchus said disclosing that the couple’s home was ransacked. He said blood stains were seen in a section of the market, located at the head of the street leading to the Budraj’s home.

The Budraj’s Yakusari, Black Bush Polder home

Meanwhile, Satesh Persaud called ‘Black Boy’ Sarasuati’s nephew told Reporters that he received a call at about 04:00h informing him that the house was on fire. He said when he arrived neighbours were helping to tame the blaze and he was under the impression that his aunt and her husband were okay.

Persaud was however later given the tragic news.
“All the bond with the rum and drinks and inside the house at the bottom dem burn. Meh aunty hand burn out clean and meh uncle he got chop pon he neck and meh aunty had a knife in she neck,” the distraught man told Reporters.

The couple has three children who all reside overseas.

Hours later a 22-year-old, who recently moved to Yakusari South, Black Bush Polder admitted to the brutal double murder. Kaieteur News understands that the suspects worked at Budraj’s rice field on Monday and had visited the couple’s shop to consume alcohol. It was reportedly while at the shop they concocted the plan to rob the couple. They left the shop and returned early Tuesday morning to execute their plan.

The section of the market where blood was found.

Additionally, Kaieteur News understands that one of the suspects sustained a chop wound allegedly inflicted by Subnauth Budraj when he entered the premises. Reports are that the suspect allegedly visited the Mibicuri Hospital for treatment but his suspicious behavior caused persons at the location to inform the police.

The man then caught public transportation to travel out of the village. However, he was apprehended by police at a roadblock.

The entrance to the bottom flat of the couple’s home

Additionally, the man told police that he, along with an accomplice, who is also in custody, ventured to the couple’s home to rob them. However, the couple identified them and they killed them before setting the house on fire with the hope of derailing police investigations.

The man detailed that he and his accomplice opened a gas bottle from the kitchen and lit papers around it, causing the fumes to ignite, resulting in the blaze.

Regional Commander, Shivpersaud Bacchus, who joined Crime Scene Investigators, confirmed that jewelry with the names of the couple were found at the 22-year-old’s home along with phone cards from the shop and an undisclosed amount of local currency.

The accomplice is a 27-year-old, also of Yakusari, Black Bush Polder.

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Black Bush Polder, Guyana Fire Service (GFS), Malisa Playter-Harry, Sarasuati Devi Budraj, Subnauth Budraj

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