THE dead body of 49-year-old Marc Small, a driver attached to the GT Express Taxi Service, was discovered, around 04:50 hrs yesterday morning, in his car ditched in a trench at Sparendaam, East Coast Demerara. Investigations revealed that he had been stabbed six times and there were signs that he had been strangled.
It is reported that, before the discovery, Small had made contact with his base about 12:45 hrs on Thursday, informing that he had just picked up a customer to take to Plaisance, the village adjoining Sparendaam.
Subsequently, the Guyana Chronicle was told that efforts to contact him, from his base, proved futile but hours later, an unknown voice radioed the report that Small had been killed.
The dispatcher on duty immediately contacted the nearest police station to report what was related to him and, when ranks  arrived at the scene, they observed that Small might have been trying to get out of the vehicle before he passed away. A source said it is suspected that the killer or killers tried to strangle Small from the back seat before stabbing him in the head, chest and neck.
When this newspaper got to the location, the ill-fated car, HB7962,  had already been taken to the Sparendaam Police Station and the corpse removed.
People living in the vicinity said they did not see any suspicious activities Thursday night but a man, who was lingering about was arrested after he returned to the area after being previously sent away by the police.
Fellow drivers at the same taxi service said they are unaware of any ‘bad business’ in which Small was involved or if he had issues with anyone.
The police have launched a further investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the 49-year-old man, who is said to be a deportee and was staying at a hotel in Kitty.
Meanwhile, the Taxi Services Association hosted a press briefing yesterday afternoon to thank the Guyana Police Force for diligently pursuing investigations into the murder of Small.
According to president of the association, Patrick Brassington, since the murder came to light, the force has been working assiduously to put together the pieces of the crime, to bring to account whomsoever is responsible for Small’s death.
“I would like to thank the Guyana Police Force for being so (responsive) to Mr De Abreau  (owner of GT Taxi Service) and his service, and hope that this type (of murderous) behaviour doesn’t continue in the future,” Brassington said.
He noted that taxi operators should be more vigilant and alert when picking up customers, in order to avoid these situations.
He noted, too, that spare parts dealers, or any operative in this field, should desist from any illegal practices with regard to the purchase of stolen or illegal items, which could be a major factor that leads to these crimes.
“We are asking taxi operators to be vigilant and not to be caught up in these things, and we also want to urge those spare parts dealers to desist from buying any illegal parts or from an unauthorised dealer. Stop buying any parts from these people!”
He explained that, in current times, taxi drivers have avoided the practice of carrying large sums of cash around, so as to avoid these situations. “I must say that taxi drivers/operators don’t operate with a large amount of cash. We just have our radio and the car, and we work on a charge account mostly,” he said.
Owner of the taxi service, Stevie De Abreau, said he is discomfited with the death of his employee, and noted that he has already made contact with the sister of the deceased who resides in Trinidad, informing her of the mishap.
De Abreau said he did not know how many children Small fathered, but the man’s reputed wife is living abroad.
“He is related to S&L Electrical, and they are handling everything for now, until his other family members arrive in Guyana. His father is expected to be here shortly,” De Abreau said.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Chronicle had the opportunity of speaking with Kunta Thornhill, the Green Ice Taxi Service driver, who made the discovery yesterday morning and immediately contacted the base to inform them of this.
Kunta said that at the time of the discovery, he had just collected a customer when, on his way, he noticed what appeared to be a yellow car in the nearby trench. Out of curiosity, he reversed and turned his beamer on to detect whether there was someone in the car, but the only thing he noticed was that the door to the driver’s seat was wide open.
“I was going to pick up a customer at Goedverwagting. When I was heading up there, I didn’t see the car; but while I was coming back I used the Goedverwagting main road, and that’s when I saw the car, and the driver side door was wide open … I didn’t know what service it belonged to, but the number was on the back of the car, so that’s when I placed the call and I get on to GT, and a female answered and she collected my number and told me that her boss was going to make contact with her.”
Thornhill said that since he didn’t see anyone in the vehicle, he proceeded on his way with the customer; however, he was later informed that the man was submerged.
The man said while he is disappointed that he was unable to see the driver of the other car earlier, he is hoping that justice is served. Additionally, as a taxi driver, this is going to make him more aware of the activities of his customers on a daily basis, he noted, saying this will be a challenge.