Bullet shells found

Police sources told Newsday the bullet casings (spent shells) have been sent to the Forensic Science Centre in St James for ballistic tests to see if these shells belong to bullets which ended the lives of Venezuelans Jose Vasquez Marcano and Gladys Otize.

Shortly after the bodies were found, police came across a car which was abandoned along a road which became impassable when a large tree fell across it. In the trunk was a suitcase which bore the names of the couple.

Officers later traced the car to a man from Ravine Sable, Longdenville. The man claimed the car was stolen from him at gunpoint on Saturday. He was detained as police continued their investigations.

Yesterday, armed with search warrants, detectives went to the man’s Ravine Sable, Longdenville home and during a search, found several spent shells. Confronted with this find, the man claimed that during the incident in which his car was stolen, several shots were fired at his home. Up to press time, the man remained in police custody.

Meanwhile, Forensic pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov will today carry out autopsies on Otize and Marcano’s bodies. Alexandrov who returned to work after a brief vacation said he decided to delay the autopsies until today, to allow officers at the Homicide Investigations Bureau time to complete certain procedures.

He said when the bodies were brought to the Centre on Tuesday, he decided to delay the autopsies after realising police did not make any special notes as to whether the bodies bore specific marks of distinction such as tattoos and scars which could aid in formal identification.

He added that police will today fingerprint both bodies before the start of the autopsies. The prints will be sent to Venezuela so police in that country could see if there is a match with their fingerprint data base as a means of ascertaining if Otize and/or Marcano had a criminal record. Officials at the Venezuelan Embassy in Trinidad are liaising with police in an effort to locate and notify relatives of the victims in Venezuela. Alexandrov said although it is highly unlikely any relative will be at the Centre today, he will proceed with the autopsies in the interest of ensuring the investigation is not delayed.

Newsday understands relatives of the two victims are yet to be located and officers are checking with Immigration Department officials to determine the relationship between Marcano and Otize and also whether the two visited this country previously and if so, how many times.

Officers have also made contact with Con Viasa Airlines officials to secure more information on the two who arrived in this country from Margarita on Sunday. The couple’s bodies were found miles inside the Brasso Piedra forest on Tuesday by a labourer who was on his way to cut grass.