4 being questioned, 2 more wanted in police murder

Police Wednesday detained four of six young men being sought in relation to the murder of a police constable last weekend.

The body of Elson Richardson, a 41-year-old police constable, was found at Belle Vue, about 18 miles north east of Kingstown last Sunday morning with several wounds including a slit throat. {{more}}

There were bloodstains on the road near where the body was found, though heavy rains, which fell that morning, created additional challenges for investigating policemen.

And, while the exact circumstances of the murder remain a mystery, the discovery of the lawman’s burnt out vehicle, P789, found in the road between Clare Valley and Chauncey, about five miles north west of Kingstown and about 25 miles from where the body was found, makes this case more intriguing.

Reports are that Richardson was at a restaurant just outside Barrouallie the night before his body was discovered.

Richardson’s relatives were in a sombre mood last Tuesday as they finalised preparations for his burial. He will be laid to rest tomorrow in his hometown, Barrouallie.

One sister, Audrey, who resides at Glen, about four miles north east of Kingstown, said she last saw her brother alive around 7:30 that evening at her home when he left to drop someone home to Barrouallie. It was she who had to be called upon to identify her brother’s corpse at the mortuary.

The deceased Richardson, the father of three children aged 16, 15 and 12, has been described by his relatives as loving and always in close contact with his 53-year-old sister Audrey.

The sister confirms this and said Richardson respected her as a mother and kept in constant contact.

Richardson was attached to the Central Police Station in Kingstown up to the time of his unfortunate demise, which has sent shock waves throughout the country and not least among his fellow police officers. This is the first time that there has been a report of a serving policeman being murdered here.

It comes, coincidentally, at a time when police here have mounted a stepped- up national anti-crime stop and search operation in response to an escalation of murders and violent crimes here.

The murder of this policeman has taken the number of murders for the year to a record 24.

Police had earlier this week released photos of Earlando Lampkin and Shorn George, two of the persons being sought in connection with the murder.