OSWALD Junior Yaw, 21 years, of East Ruimveldt Back Circle, who was allegedly hired by the wife of Herstelling block-maker Nathan Persaud to kill him, was arrested last evening by police who had staked out a city location for four days.
Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum has confirmed that the man was arrested by ranks of the Major Crime Unit who had received intelligence about his whereabouts.
The man was taken to the Criminal Investigation Department headquarters last evening where he reportedly confessed to the crime and gave details about the contract to kill 47-year-old Nathan Persaud last Thursday on the instructions of his wife Gwendolyn Persaud.
She was remanded to prison on Monday when she appeared before Magistrate Ann McLennon charged with the murder of her husband.
The hitman told the police that he was promised $1.7 million by the man’s wife to murder the man.
He explained that on the day in question he caught a minibus and travelled to Diamond where he met the woman and the final plans for the murderous act were settled.
According to him, the woman told him that she would sell a pool table from her shop to give him a part payment and subsequently he would be paid in installments for the job. Those installments were to be paid at $100,000 per month until the entire $1.7 million was paid off.
On Sunday when this publication spoke with one of the woman’s sons, he said that his mother had sold off a few of their assets, including a large pool table which she had in her shop.
Yaw explained to investigators that after the plan was finalised he and the woman caught a minibus out of the community and during the journey she continued to instruct him on how the killing must be done and provided him with directions to the man’s house.
The minibus then stopped at Herstelling where the hitman disembarked and the deal was for him to meet her in Georgetown after he had killed her husband. The man followed the instructions and after murdering the man he travelled to the city.
Yaw also told the police that he went into the community and searched for the address and after locating it, he befriended the man and had a cordial conversation with him. During the conversation the hitman realised that he could not commit the murderous act in the open and so he requested to use the man’s washroom.
As the man entered the house first to direct him to the washroom, he saw a clay brick and immediately picked it up and lashed the victim to the head. At that point the man began fighting up and he picked up a knife and stabbed him.
He then used a hammer and bashed the man to the head and face. He told the police that once he was satisfied that the man was dead, he left the house and boarded a bus to Georgetown.
The suspect also confirmed that he was interested in securing the money for the hit in order to visit his girlfriend in Antigua to surprise her for her birthday.
Nathan Persaud was laid to rest on Monday while his wife who admitted to hiring a hitman to murder him was charged and remanded to prison on Monday also.
The husband and wife who were married for approximately 23 years were involved in a bitter property dispute.
The dead man’s mother on Sunday said that what her daughter-in-law did was very heartbreaking as she had treated her like one of her own children. The woman’s son expressed disgust at the role his mother played in murdering his father and described it as a very, very messed up move by her.

By Leroy Smith