Calling it a victory for the ‘long arm of the law’, ranks of the Guyana Police Force have arrested a man accused of murdering his wife two decades ago.
Police Headquarters in a statement on Sunday said that after eluding detectives for 20 years, the suspect in the 2002 murder of Roshanie Sooklall was captured at about 17:30 hrs on Saturday.
The ranks from the Anna Regina Police Station were reportedly acting on information received when they went to the Onderneeming/Sand Pit area on the Essequibo Coast.
There, the 51-year-old murder suspect Gautier Jerome Fernandes, was arrested.
He is presently in custody at the Anna Regina Police Station.
Fernandes, a labourer, was wanted for the murder of the mother of four which occurred on January 25, 2002 at Diamond, East Bank Demerara.
Based on an article in the Kaieteur News, Sooklall had left her husband after years of abuse and had moved in with her brother at Diamond.
She had rejected all his pleas for her to return home. On the day in question, Sooklall had visited a female friend’s home where she spent all day.
Late in the night, the friend decided to follow her home through the dirt road.
The friend then heard Sooklall screaming and saw her struggling with her husband who was armed with a knife.
The man reportedly slashed her throat while the friend managed to escape.
Fernandes fled the community until his arrest on Saturday.