– aunt
CHERYL Withrite, a Guyanese living in St. Maarten for the past 15 years, was murdered there last Saturday after being the victim of constant abuse. She was killed by her common law husband, who took his own life, her aunt, Minerva Withrite told the Guyana Chronicle yesterday. Minerva said Cheryl, who had no relative in St. Maarten, often telephoned to talk about her difficulties and was encouraged to return to Guyana. The dead woman was the daughter of her eldest brother, who is also deceased and they had often communicated about her problems, among which was that she had to financially support the man with whom she was living, as he did not have a steady job. Minerva said Cheryl had complained that she was often beaten after quarrels over money. Minerva is willing to go to St. Maarten for Cheryl’s funeral but would like help to get a visa for the trip as it would be too costly to bring home the body back here for burial. Towards that objective, she remains hopeful that she would get the travel assistance to see Cheryl buried, especially since she is most upset about the way the life of the latter ended.

HEATED ARGUMENT
Preliminary information, reported by St. Maarten News Network (SMNN) is that the couple had a heated argument Saturday night and it escalated to a murder/suicide on Sunday morning.
SMNN learnt that the female victim is an employee of Burger King and she has been identified by neighbours as Cheryl Withrite, 52. Police Spokesman Richard Henson said they found the woman dead inside her apartment above ‘Tire Max’ which is across from Flourish Supermarket, while the man was discovered seriously injured at the back of his apartment.
Henson said the man, Cleon Anthony Bourne known as ‘Tall Boy’, 54, had jumped through a window and suffered a large, open wound on his stomach while his throat was slashed. Also from Guyana, he was still alive and was transported to the St. Maarten Medical Centre where he died shortly after. He is a former employee of ‘Divi Little Bay’ and, originally, from La Grange, West Bank Demerara, in Guyana, to where he was expected to travel tomorrow because he was unemployed. SMNN learnt that Cheryl is the mother of one child who also resides in Guyana.