DNA test to confirm identify of man electrocuted on La Grange farm - Police

DNA test to confirm identify of man electrocuted on La Grange farm – Police

Mar 06, 2024 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

…farmer released on $1M station bail

Kaieteur News – A Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) test will be used to determine whether the remains of the man electrocuted on a fence of a La Grange, West Bank Demerara (WBD) farm is indeed that of 22-year-old Shaquille Jones called ‘Botha’.

Last week, a 59-year-old farmer confessed to burning the body of a man he had found dead on his electric fence at La Grange, WBD.

The dead man, who has been identified as Jones of Bagotville, WBD has been missing for three months.

“I come home ah afternoon from wuk and see one a dem hook up on the fence like he get electrocute,” the farmer told police while relating that he erected the electric fence at his farm to keep thieves out from stealing his fruits.

“I tek he off and I recognize is Botha. I drag he pon de next land and I use some tire fuh burn he, I tell you de truth I didn’t kill this man he done dead,” the farmer reportedly told police.

It was a secret he has been keeping since November last year and it might have remained that way, if Jones’ two friends had not seen him [the farmer] dragging his [Jones] body while they were hiding behind a mango tree.

Jones’ friends were keeping his death a secret too but one of them, a sixteen-year-old boy, decided that it was time for police to know the truth behind Jones’ disappearance.

However, on Tuesday, Senior Superintendent Wendel Blanhum disclosed in an interview with Kaietuer News that the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack has advised police investigating the matter to await the completion of a DNA test, following other investigations to determine what crime the suspect would be charged with.

Blanhum said that the DNA test will confirm whether the body which was found was indeed of Jones.

He stated that the suspect is yet to be charged due to the investigations that are pending. However, he was released on $1M station bail but is required to report to a police station periodically.

Meanwhile, Kaieteur News reported that on February 25, 2024, the teen went to the La Grange Police Station and told ranks there that Jones was electrocuted while they were running away from another farmer who caught them stealing his citrus fruits.

The child said that they had gone to that farmer’s farm located in Cone Street, La Grange, WBD to steal but ended up bumping into him. That man chased them with a cutlass and they ran to a next farm fenced with mesh to escape.

They jumped over the meshed fence and while the two of them made it over safely, Jones was left stuck and reportedly screamed, “Ahh!!”

That was when they reportedly realized that Jones was being “shocked by some sort of electricity on the fence.”

The boy claimed that they tried to remove him with a wood but were unsuccessful in their attempts and Jones was electrocuted.

Instead of leaving the area, the two of them hid behind a mango tree and spent the entire night there.

The following morning they saw the owner of that farm picking some fruits. It was while picking the fruits that the farmer stumbled on Jones’ body.

The teen alleged that the farmer left and returned shortly thereafter with a sheet.

They saw him wrap Jones’ body inside and drag it away.

He recalled that they waited a bit longer to see if the farmer would return before emerging from their hiding place.

He said that while leaving the area he was threatened by his friend, who is older and who was with him, not tell anyone about what they saw because he would kill him.

After listening to the boy’s story, police went to the farm with him and upon arrival found the farmer there. After stating the reason for their visit, the teen was asked to take the police to the area where Jones was electrocuted.

It was observed that the fence was altered. Kaieteur News understands that the farmer demolished the electric fence and replaced it with a barbed wire one.

It did not take the ranks long to find the skeletal remains among a fire heap. They also saw pieces of burnt clothing and tires with the remains on the man’s farm.

DNA test, electrocution, Farmer, investigation, police

Latest News