THIRTY-eight-year-old Nicola Joseph is in police custody, and is expected to appear in court today charged with the murder of her reputed husband.

Dead is Curtis McKinnon, 37, a father of four and Production/Distribution Supervisor at the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) Pouderoyen office.

The incident reportedly occurred at the couple’s two-bedroom home at lot 12 Plantain Walk, Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara.
Reports are that he and Joseph were arguing Sunday night in one of the bedrooms when she stabbed him in the neck. But neighbours insist they heard nothing unusual coming from the house on the night in question.
According to unconfirmed reports, the argument stemmed from her going to ‘the Stadium’ to watch cricket in the company of another male.
While the man’s relatives could not say whether this was true or false, they said the pair, who have been together for the past five years and have two children together, would usually have their little misunderstandings every now and again, but nothing serious ever came of them.
A sibling of the dead man told the Chronicle that he had just gotten home when he received a call from Joseph saying she had stabbed his brother and was at the police station.
At her insistence that he go and check on his brother, the man said he went to his sibling’s house, but by the time he’d gotten there, the body had already been removed.
Hospital staff reportedly told family members that from all appearances, McKinnon had been dead for quite a while, as not only was the body cold to the touch, but the blood from the wound he sustained was already dry.
Over at Ezekiel’s Funeral Parlour, where relatives were already making arrangements for his burial, one of McKinnon’s brothers described their reputed sister-in-law as being very abusive and aggressive. He said she was so bossy, it embarrassed his brother no end. McKinnon, on the other hand, was said to be level-headed and easy-going. He’s also known to have never laid a finger on his wife, in spite of her alleged ‘bitchiness’.
Another relative spoke of her showing up at the man’s workplace recently and publicly embarrassing him. He also recalled her travelling to Linden once and confronting a woman she suspected of having an affair with her man.
They all agreed it was hard communicating with Joseph because of her attitude, and that it was for this very reason she was not a favourite of theirs.
When the Chronicle visited the home where the incident occurred, the building was locked tight, since the police had to return to conduct further investigations into the incident. The file pertaining to the matter is expected to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecution for advice.
The murder of this man comes just two days after a woman was tied up and killed by her husband at Crane, a few villages away. The man has since gone into hiding, and the police is to soon issue a wanted bulletin for him.

(By Leroy Smith)