Another charged man in connection with Bartica double murder

May 06, 2024 News

Dead businessman, Zaheer Mohammed Sheriff (left) and Donovan Washington

Kaieteur News – A fifth individual was on Friday charged in connection with the March 3, 2025 murders of Bartica Miner, Mohamed Zaheer Sherriff and his worker Donovan Washington.

Police identified him as Joseph Thomas, 70, of Lot 5 Liverpool Village, Corentyne, Berbice, Region Six. Joseph has been charged with “Accessory after the Fact of Murder’. He appeared at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Teriq Mohamed and was not required to plea to the charge. He was granted $600,000 bail and is required to return to court on May 31, 2024. Four other men have been charged in connection with the murders and two still remain wanted by police for questioning.

The fifth man (Joseph Thomas) charged in connection with the murders.

The four are: Teddy Thomas, 44, a Taxi Driver of Itaballi Landing and James Derrick, 20, a miner of Onderneeming, Essequibo Coast, Region Two, Travis Fredericks, a 32-year-old Miner from 287 Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) and Fernando Fredericks, a 28-year-old Miner from the same address.

Derrick and the two Fredricks relatives were all charged with “Accessory after the Fact of Murder’ while Thomas was charged with murder. They were all remanded to prison. Derrick and Thomas are expected to be back in court on May 15, 2024 while Travis Fredericks and Fernando Fredricks made their second court appearance on April 25 last.

Meanwhile Police had also issued wanted bulletins for two more men who are still at large. One of them Romain Henry, 19, was reported missing by his mother days before police issued a wanted bulleting for him. The other wanted man is Kellon Fredricks, 21.

Reports on the murder case are that on the morning of March 3 last Bartica Businessman, Zaheer Mohammed Sheriff, 50, and a former national athlete who worked with him, Donovan Washington, 26, were murdered by bandits while returning from Arimu Backdam, Cuyuni River, Region Seven.

Mohammed owned a land dredge in the backdam. He had reportedly started his day early with prayers at the Masjid in Bartica before leaving with Washington for Arimu Backdam on an ATV (four wheel bike). They had gone in there to wash down (a process of separating gold from mats placed in a sluice box to trap the precious metal) and bring out production (the gold).

According to police reports they left with 102 ounces of raw gold worth some $37M but at around 10:00hrs that day, they were both shot dead and the gold stolen. The dead businessman’s General Manager (GM) Joel Stephen, 39, told police that Mohammed and Washington were killed some five minutes after leaving camp. He recalled hearing “several loud explosions which he suspected to be gunshots”, police said.

Stephen reportedly followed the directions of the sounds and after walking for 500 meters away from camp he found his boss and Washington dead in the trail with visible gunshot wounds to their bodies. Not only did he discover that the gold they were carrying was gone but Mohammed’s two licensed guns, a .32 pistol and a 12-gauge shotgun, were stolen. Police had reported that investigators learnt that the businessman and his worker were attacked by two masked men on a Red ATV (four-wheel bike).

The two still wanted by police in connection with the double murder

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Bartica Double Murder, charged, Donovan Washington, Joseph, Mohamed Zaheer Sherriff

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