Mystery hanging death of Aleong murder suspect

Mystery hangs over the death of Michael Rodriguez, 39, in a police cell yesterday at the Central Police Station at St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain. Police said that Rodriguez used his jersey to hang himself in the cell after he had been given his breakfast yesterday. However, his common-law wife Cheryl Lewis said that Rodriguez was not the suicidal type, and is convinced that there is more to his death than the police are saying. Worse, the police have refused to allow her to view the body and have given her little information, only stating that she would be allowed to see the body on Monday.

Rodriguez was held on Wednesday night at his home in Morvant during a police exercise in the district by officers of the Homicide Bureau. He was one of five men held for questioning into the December 2 murder of Petit Valley businessman Christopher Aleong. Police said he was also a suspect in the kidnapping of businessman Alvin Nunes who was snatched from outside his Belmont gas station last Sunday. Nunes was rescued by officers of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad. They stated that Aleong’s death was not a kidnapping but a “hit” ordered by some person or persons unknown. Commissioner of Police Everald Snaggs who visited the scene of the alleged hanging death, confirmed that Rodriguez was a suspect in both these crimes.

He said that an investigation has been launched into the death but revealed that the investigations into the murder and kidnapping are continuing despite the death of Rodriguez. Police said when Rodrigez was held, he gave the police a statement in connection with the Aleong killing, and it was believed that the police might have held him as a witness in any charges which might have been laid in the killing. The Director of Public Prosecutions Geoffrey Henderson will be consulted today on whether to lay charges against four suspects in custody for Aleong’s murder. A grieving Lewis who sat outside the Central Police Station with tears streaming down her face, said that she visited her husband on Thursday at the Central Police Station. She asked him if he was going to court and he told her no. He asked her to bring some clothes and food for him the following day. On Friday, Lewis took the clothes and food for Rodriguez. She told Sunday Newsday that the police are very tight lipped about what happened yesterday, and refused to answer questions about her husband’s death beyond stating that they found him hanging.

The police described Rodriguez as a notorious criminal. Reports revealed that around 8 am yesterday, a police officer took food to the cell for Rodriguez. Around 8.35 am, another prisoner saw him hanging from the cell block and alerted police officers. Senior police officers were informed of the death and around  10.30 am, District Medical Officer Dr Ibelemy viewed the body and ordered the removal to the Port-of-Spain Mortuary. Police officers remained mum about the incident and referred any inquiries to the Commissioner of Police. But refuting charges that it was a “hit,” Homicide Bureau revealed yesterday that Rodriguez gave a confession statement to the police that he and five other members of a Muslim organisation had planned to kidnap Aleong on the morning of December 2. He added that it was decided by him and others that a $10 million ransom be demanded for the safe release. Rodriguez also claimed in his statement that after Aleong was kidnapped he would have been kept in a house in the hills at Patna Village. The six decided that Laventille was not a safe place to keep Aleong because of the heavy presence of the police and army at various police stations throughout the country.