4 murders stump cops

SOUTHERN and Central Division detectives have not made any breakthrough nor have they arrested anyone in connection with four murders which occurred within the past month — three of which were committed within days of each other.

Among those murdered were 55-year-old grandmother of six, Moonia Geesiawan; kidnap victim Damien Schneider, 35;  Michael “Speedy” Joseph, 23 and 36-year-old Couva businessman Gerard Punch. The bodies of Geesiawan and Schneider were found partially burnt and badly decomposing in separate incidents. The other victims were shot to death, also in separate incidents.

The first murder occurred on June 30, when Joseph, of Faith Trace, Laventille, had gone with friends on an excursion at Sea Wall Beach, Mayaro. Police sources said around 10 am, Joseph and two friends — Oswald Charles, 24, and Morris Mason, 18 — got into a heated argument with some villagers after the Laventille men reportedly made a lewd remark about a female villager. Joseph and his two friends reportedly chased the villagers back to their village, pelting bottles at them. At the village, Joseph and his two friends had a violent confrontation with the villagers in which they were severely beaten. During the scuffle, Joseph was shot in his chest and died on the spot while Charles and Mason sustained serious head injuries. Several villagers were detained for questioning, but subsequently released. Police sources told Newsday yesterday that investigators were confident of making an arrest in this murder.

Two weeks later on July 15, Punch, of Balmain Village, Couva, had gone to check on his business place located at Centre Pointe Mall, Chaguanas, when he was shot dead by four bandits during a robbery attempt. Around 9 pm, Punch was approached and they demanded that he hand over the keys to his car. A struggle ensued and Punch was shot in the stomach by the bandits who fled the scene. Bleeding profusely, the businessman ran to the entrance of his business place where he collapsed and died. A 20-year-old suspect had been questioned by police but was subsequently released. This man was later slapped with unrelated charges of possession of arms and ammunition. Three days later, on July 18, the burnt and decomposed body of mother of seven and grandmother of six, Moonia Geesiawan, of St Margaret’s Village, Mayaro, was discovered under a pile of burnt bamboo in a forested area at Agostini Village, Rio Claro.

Police believe Geesiawan, a URP worker, who was missing for three days, may have been robbed, raped and then killed. On Tuesday, detectives from Chaguanas CID came across the badly decomposed and partially burnt body of a man who was later identified as kidnapped Belmont resident David Schneider, who was one of five persons kidnapped within the space of a week. His body was found in a shallow river near a canefield at Waterloo Road, Carapichaima. He is the first kidnap victim to have been killed for the year.