The Detective: How Shonette Dover’s killer escaped by fooling a nation?

Apr 30, 2023 Features / Columnists, News, The Detective

---

By: Shervin Belgrave

Kaieteur News – Today marks exactly two years after Shonette Dover’s 15-year-old relative led detectives to dig up her decomposing body from a shallow grave in her boyfriend’s yard at Canvas City, Wismar, Linden, Region Ten. Her remains were discovered some 28 days after she went missing, but apart from a heart rending end to the search for Dover, her relatives, Linden and the country at large, will never forget how her killer escaped by fooling an entire nation.

Dover was reportedly shot to her head by her boyfriend, 21-year-old, Saquan Alleyne, who is popularly known as “ISWE”, a promising local artist with a criminal past. By the time detectives learnt the truth; Alleyne had slipped out of their hands and disappeared.

To date, he remains on the run and while police keep their eyes open for him, detectives, relatives and even media are “still kicking themselves” for not seeing through the façade he portrayed of an innocent, heartbroken man that was deeply worried about his girlfriend’s disappearance.

Hours after he allegedly killed Dover and buried her in his backyard, Alleyene made his way down to a police station in Linden and reported her missing. He even notified the woman’s relatives that he could not find the love of his life.

As the search intensified, Alleyene began telling his ‘’false” but convincing story to the media including Kaieteur News- no one had clue at the time  that he had allegedly murdered the woman.

The wanted man had told this newspaper that he and Shonnette had no issues. On the day that she disappeared, he said he had left her home, “good, good.”

The suspect related that he had woken up on the morning of April 3, 2021, and had breakfast with Shonnette. After this, he said he left their home to drop some crutches for someone who was involved in an accident. From there, he said he went to his aunt’s home where he ate lunch and ‘chilled’ with his family before returning home in the afternoon. Alleyne then shared that his girlfriend’s sister related to him that Shonnette had already left for work.  He then dropped her little sister to another sister’s residence, before going to a party in Blue Berry Hill with his friends, after which, he said he returned home and realised that Shonnette was not home.

“When I go and look and see. I left the key right where it was earlier and I said this girl ain’t come home. But I know the first time she did something like that and I was looking for her, she was at her mother’s residence so I didn’t dig nothing, I sleep,” he related.  After calling her phone the next day, April 4, last and it was going to voicemail, he claimed that he went over to her mother’s residence who told him Shonette was there.

He had said, “Right away, I start getting suspicious and I start calling all she friends to find out if they see this girl. Is then I got to understand that the brother saw her over the river (Mackenzie) with a girl.” Alleyne continued that he decided to make a report at the police station on Monday, April 5, with Dover’s family present.

It could be said that Alleyne’s claims was the perfect lie because it shifted the attention away from him and while relatives and the police spent time to track down Dover’s last known whereabouts, Alleyne silently disappeared.

After detectives realized that they were conned, the truth unraveled in a confession from Dover’s 15-year-old relative.

The teen told investigators that on the night that Dover went ‘missing’, Saturday April 3, 2021, Alleyne was oiling his brownish gun in his living room. She said the 21-year-old then pointed the gun at her sister who told him “he like play and he should put away that thing.” The young lady said she then heard a loud sound, akin to that of a firework.

Alleyne who is not a licensed firearm holder subsequently exclaimed, “Oh shoots, I shoot that girl!”

The 15-year-old said she then saw her sister’s mouth open as her blood quickly started to cover her face. Upon seeing this, she said to Shaquan, “Let’s take her to the hospital” but the boyfriend refused as he retorted, “No, she dead already.” Alleyne then accompanied the sister to his father and told him of what he did. Alleyne’s father then told him “don’t tell (me) stupidness, why (you) playing with the gun?”After doing their collective deliberation about what to do with the body, they decided that it was best to bury her in the backyard unknown to other parties. Armed with a spade, Kaieteur News understands that they dug a shallow hole after which Shonette’s body was rolled into it and covered up. Alleyne then hid the gun.

The young lady’s confession was reported in the media and it left the entire nation in shock. Even Dover’s relatives were taken aback when they realized that Alleyne had conned them all.

Dover’s grandmother had said, “I never suspected that he was involved. I didn’t expect that he would do anything of this nature, never ever think that would have happened and I want to believe he threatened her (the 15-year-old) because she never exposed or tell us anything…So according to my knowledge, she was threatened, that is why she kept silent.”

Kaieteur news understands that the suspect was even assisting the relatives in their search before fleeing the jurisdiction.

---

• murder Linden, Shaquan Alleyene, Shonette Dover, wanted

---