- in burglary at Uncle Eddie’s
Home
-she had been sodomised, as her underwear was down to her legs.
By
Shirley Thomas
A WOMAN security guard was murdered early yesterday
morning during a burglary at Uncle Eddie’s Home for senior citizens, in Jackson
Street, Tucville, Georgetown.
![]() MURDERED: Security Guard, Simone Coleridge |
Her bound and
gagged, lifeless body was discovered lying face down on the floor of the
reception area in one of the buildings in the complex and it is suspected that
she had been sodomised, as her underwear was down to her
legs.
A white lace
chairback with bloodstains was tightly tied around her mouth and neck,
investigators said.
The section
where the discovery was made had been ransacked and there were bloodstains on
the floor and bloodstained pieces of toilet paper and a torchlight at the
scene.
Reports said
the burglars entered from the back when Coleridge was seated next to a window at
the front of the building.
They
apparently removed a television set, refrigerator and microwave oven from the
dining room before venturing where the victim
sat.
![]() Coleridge’s grieving son, Roger and sister Carlotta yesterday. |
The complex
comprised an expansive main structure and six smaller annexed units. It was in
that big building, which houses the administrative office, kitchen, dining hall
and several private dormitories that the murder took place.
Surviving
occupants said, around 02:00h, they heard a commotion in the sitting room but
the guard could not raise an alarm as her mouth had been stuffed with paper and
a cushion covered her head.
A nurse on
duty was awakened and she summoned Police, from the nearby East La Penitence
station, who arrived promptly but the intruders had already fled.
When the
Guyana Chronicle arrived at the crime scene, there was a heavy Police presence,
including cops from fingerprint, homicide, photographic and other criminal
investigations units conducting
investigations.
![]() The ransacked reception area at Uncle Eddie’s Senior Citizens Home where the security guard was murdered. |
One
octogenarian, with tears streaming down her face, lamented the gruesome manner
in which Coleridge met her demise.
ATTACKED
“She died to defend us; She
died defending us,” the 80-year-old sighed, recalling that, months ago she was
attacked with a pitchfork at the same place as she tried warding off bandits at
the premises.
“She was so
small built and died without even a gun to help herself…what a pity,” the old
woman added.
Some others
were critical of the fact that one unarmed female was on guard at such a large,
poorly illuminated compound.
They called
for more security lights to be installed at various points from which prowlers
could enter.
According to
them, thieves would wait until dark and push their hands through the grillwork
on their bedroom windows and steal personal belongings.
Neighbours on
the opposite side of the street said they heard nothing but, on rising about
05:00h, they saw the reception area at Uncle Eddie’s unusually brightly lit and
a vehicle full of Police ranks in the yard before learning of the
killing.
![]() Uncle Eddie’s main building where the robbery and murder took place yesterday. |
D’Oliveira
said she, immediately, went to the location and subsequently, to RK’s Security
Regent Street headquarters, in another part of the city, but did not get to see
Roshan Khan.
On arriving at
the home of the deceased, she heard that officials from the firm had visited to
inform about the death.
D’Oliveira
said she was even more saddened at the thought that her sister was posted at the
site unarmed, without armed back-up and practically at the mercies of intruders,
even though she was almost killed there some months ago.
At Uncle
Eddie’s, D’Oliveira said she retrieved Coleridge’s bag which had been searched
but still had her bank and identification cards and a tiny transistor
radio.
But her money,
a gold chain she wore and her cellular phone were missing.
In Queen
Street, the dead woman’s only son, Roger Coleridge, 21, wearing a
t-shirt on
which was emblazoned ‘Strength and Courage’, tried to cope with the pain of his
mother’s loss but his anguish was evident.
![]() The grass field aback of the Senior Citizens’ Home |
A post mortem
examination is to be performed on the deceased Friday.
Meanwhile,
Administrator of Uncle Eddie’s Home, Mrs. Rita Mc Ewan confirmed that two men
entered the building from one of the back doors which they managed to break open
without being seen or heard.
The
administrator said she was called up by the night aide, who claimed she was in
the sick bay when she heard what appeared to be two men speaking in the
building, and other sounds. At that stage, she reportedly advanced and called
out for the guard on duty, but got no response.
It was
reported that when the men heard her they fled, but by then the guard had
already been killed.
It would appear the stolen items – a refrigerator, a 20 inch television set and a microwave oven, were fetched across a plot of bushes to an awaiting vehicle.
Stolen items – a
refrigerator, a 20 inch television set and a microwave
But even with
a new door being constructed and installed yesterday, and with plans for
heightened security of the premises, there was a near crisis situation brewing
at RK’s security firm as, since late yesterday afternoon, the company was unable
to get a replacement for the guard murdered on the shift.
The Guyana
Chronicle is reliably informed that ‘all the guards approached’ by RK Security
firm “bluntly refused” to take over the post. Late yesterday, the administration
of Uncle Eddie’s was in a quandary as to how to get security guards to oversee
the premises for the night.
Meanwhile, the
police in a statement late yesterday, said it is investigating the “suspected
murder” of Coleridge, which occurred about 02:00h yesterday morning at the Uncle
Eddie’s Home.
“Investigations so far revealed that an aide on duty at the institution
heard noise in the building and upon checking, found the body of Simone
Coleridge lying on the floor in the waiting area of the building. Her hands and
feet were bound and her mouth gagged with a piece of cloth,” the Police
said.
“A subsequent
check revealed that a television set, a portable fridge and a micro-wave had
been stolen. Investigations by the police led to the recovery of the stolen
articles in an abandoned house within the Tucville area,” the Police
added.
Thursday, May 28, 2009