By Rabindra Rooplall
THE police have arrested Clevaughn Hamilton, called ‘Quarters,’ of Mahdia in connection with the gruesome discovery of the mutilated body of Simone Hackett, the mother of his three-year-old son, in a canal at Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara.The decomposed body of the ‘C’ Field, Sophia resident was discovered Tuesday morning. The 25-year-old mother of one was reported missing by relatives on Sunday after she had not returned on Saturday night from going to collect a package sent from Mahdia by her son’s father, and calls to her phone had gone unanswered.

According to reliable police sources, Hamilton who is a suspect in the murder was apprehended by police in Mahdia and is being shuttled to the city as investigations continue. Investigators have also questioned a bus driver and conductor who transported Hamilton to the city Friday last, a day before Hackett went missing. Hamilton is said to be a gold-miner.

According to the post-mortem report, Simone Hackett died as a result of incised wounds to the neck. Hackett was discovered by two schoolboys on their way to school and her body was positively identified by relatives, who broke down in tears at the scene even as scores of persons flocked to glimpse the mutilated and decomposed remains.

Police ‘C’ Division Commander Marlon Chapman, who was at the scene, confirmed that the woman’s throat had been slashed and three stab wounds were evident to the back of the neck.

The body which appeared to have been dumped at the scene was clad in dark-coloured clothing when pulled from the bushy canal, and the police retrieved a ‘chopper’ and an old sheet adjacent to the bloated body.
She was clad in the same outfit she had left home with and her jewellery was intact, leading relatives to speculate that robbery was not the motive, but it was a case of cold-blooded murder.

Hackett was slated to be the maid of honour at her sister’s wedding the same day she went missing, and was also to celebrate her son’s birthday. She had told relatives that the child’s father had sent her a package with a man named ‘Dexter.’

Hackett’s relatives believe that her ex-boyfriend is somehow involved in her murder, and they are urging the police to question him.

According to relatives, the ex-boyfriend wanted the child to live with him in Mahdia, and it was only after her daughter had put up a fight that a decision was made for the child to stay with his mom in Sophia and visit the father whenever school was closed.