THE distraught relatives of Uree Varswyck, also known as Malcolm Gordon, are pleading with him to surrender to the police, as living a life of crime is not worth it.

“We aren’t saying he didn’t do these things. We were not there, but all we want him to do is turn himself in; we don’t want him to die…
“If he doesn’t come in, they may kill him,” said a relative who described the ex-cop as his best-friend.

Varswyck, who recently turned 28, is wanted by the police for murder, and escaping from lawful custody. He was initially incarcerated for the December 2015 murder of Wilfred Steward, a security guard attached to Sterling Products Limited, and was also fingered in the execution-style killing, in 2015 too, of a Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) engineer, Trevor Abrams.

It is alleged that he and several other inmates — including Mark ‘Royden’ Durant aka Royden Williams, who was sentenced to death for the 2008 Bartica Massacre — were the masterminds behind the July 9 fire at the Georgetown Prison which left a prison warder dead and the facility gutted.

The clearly perturbed relative told the Guyana Chronicle on Monday that it is unclear what could have caused the dramatic change in the life of a youngster as gifted as he, who, besides being a dedicated and disciplined policeman, was also committed family man.
“I can’t say what caused these things, but he was always a promising youth before all these things, you know,” the relative said, adding that since a child, the former Mahaicony Secondary student had always wanted to become a policeman.

After completing his Caribbean Examination Council (CXC)s, as the exams were called back then, Varswyck enrolled for training with the Guyana Police Force. He was just 16 at the time. And, even though he completed the manadatory one-year training, was yet too young to graduate and be enlisted as a rank, and had to wait until he was 18 to do so.

PASSION FOR POLICING
But his passion for policing did not last, and he resigned, allegedly because of pressure from senior police officers. According to the relative, the former cop was assigned to work at the Tactical Services Unit (TSU) and was not pleased.

“He told me a senior police didn’t like him and transferred him to TSU. He said he was too intelligent to ‘pull gate’ and be a guard; he said he didn’t deserve that,” the relative said.

Apparently, he wasn’t pleased with his name either, as when he became of age, he did a deed poll and had it changed to Malcolm Gordon. He’d also dabble a while with interior decoration after leaving the Police Force, and at one point even rented a spot in the City Mall, and operated a shop in the hinterland.

He would later travel to neighbouring Suriname, where his maternal grandfather is from, but spent just under a year. It was there, our informant said, that he was nabbed for his alleged role in the December 2015 murder of Wilfred Steward.

“He had come back to Guyana, and then he went back to Suriname, where they nabbed him and said he was wanted for the Sterling Products guard murder. And then they put a next murder on him while in prison,” he said.

The relative said that Varswyck has always maintained his innocence in the matter, and claimed that he was being set up.

“He is very intelligent; was a good police; very disciplined… I can’t say what would make him do this sort of thing… And again, he hasn’t been found guilty,” the clearly exasperated youngster said.

The Guyana Chronicle also learnt that the former policeman owns one of the latest mobile devices, which he’d use from time to time to communicate with relatives and friends, and according to another relative, he would use both his cell-phone as well as the prison’s land line.

“Yes! He used to communicate with me with the prison phone, and likewise his personal cell-phone,” the relative disclosed, while noting that during periodic visits to the Georgetown Prison, there was never any indication from the murder accused that he was planning to escape.

WE TALKED THE FRIDAY
“Me and he had a good conversation the Friday, two days before the prison burn down. I had a face-to-face with he; he was three feet away from me, and there was a warden about three feet away from both of us. It was an open conversation, and we talked and laughed… I didn’t know this at all,” the worried relative declared, adding: “If he had told me something like that, I would have tried to dissuade him; told him it makes no sense to escape and become the most wanted man.

He, however, made an interesting observation, in that Varswyck had always said that anytime he made it out of jail, there’s no way he was going back.

“He said when he gets out, nobody can’t mek he go back in jail; that he will do whatever it takes necessary to stay out of jail.”

The 28-year-old father of five is said to often ask after the welfare of his children, all of whom he loves dearly.

“He loved children, and always wanted a big family,” another relative declared, noting that the entire episode is “unbelievable”.

“When this thing happened, I was surprised,” another relative said, adding: “When I heard the jail was on fire, I study he right away; I wondered if he get burn up, because he was kept in a strong cell that is underground.

“I had a doubt, because me and he talk Friday, and I ain’t had no indication he intend to escape. He wasn’t sad; we talked about the case… I can’t believe this.”

According to the female relative, attempts were made to contact the ex-policeman since Sunday, but his mobile device has been turned off.

“The number we normally talk on, it is off… I tried to contact him; I just want to know if he alive,” she said.

Asked what advice they would give to Varswyck, given that he is wanted by the police, family members in unison said, “Surrender yourself; turn yourself in. It ain’t make sense you living like that.”

One even asked, “How long are you going to live running from the police?” while noting that it is highly likely that he would be killed.

“I think if they catch him, they will kill him. He feels they want to kill him; I don’t know for what reason,” said another relative, who noted that Varswyck received specialised training while in the Police Force and was performing well.

PAY FOR THE CRIME
Though it is difficult for Varswyck’s relatives to believe he committed heinous crimes, they believe that he should face the full brunt of the law if he did.

“It was like a shock to me, but if he admits he did the murder, I’d tell him to face the music,” the relative said unapologetically.

“Me ain’t ‘fraid; I ain’t lying… I got nothing to ‘fraid for,” the relative added. When asked if contacted by the wanted man, and a request is made to reach him somewhere whether same would be done, the relative bluntly said, “I would not meet him! I would tell him to turn himself in! I would meet him with a lawyer, maybe, but not alone for the police to think I am involved, or kill me,” the family member stated.

ART DIRECTOR
Family members recounted that at the time of the 2011 filming of ‘The Bottle’, a film written and directed by one of Varswyck’s aunts, the entire cast spent some time at the Zeskendren, Mahaicony home where he grew up as a child. The former cop was even the Art Director on the set.

A colleague described him as “very willing and involved” during the filming of the movie. “He wanted to be involved in everything, and he went out of his way to get everything done,” they said.

But relatives said Varswyck’s visit to the Mahaicony home in 2011 was the last time they saw him, and noted that after he left, he was seldom in contact with them, and more particularly with his grandmother who raised him.

“We haven’t seen him in years… Friday gone was mommy’s four-year death anniversary, and she didn’t see him before she died… All in her sickness, he didn’t come. He called once-and-far, and when he was in the Force, he would run up and so, but he didn’t stay.”