…stabbed five times, three arrested

THREE persons are in police custody following what appears to be a murder/robbery committed on a former National Insurance Scheme (NIS) Manager at his Lot 22, Public Road Springlands, Corentyne home.

The man, Godfrey Branche, 74, who is now retired, was last seen alive slashing his yard at around 15:30hrs on Thursday by neigbours. His battered body was discovered at around 09:30hrs on Friday by a close family-friend, who would check on him daily.
Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, the woman said she last saw him weeding his yard at around 15:00hrs on Thursday and left. But when she passed by later, around 21:00hrs, she noticed that his front door was open, and called out to him from the locked front gate, but after her calls went unanswered, she left.

On Friday morning she returned to check on him at around 09:15hrs, but again got no response and decided to jump the fence, fearing that something was amiss, since the door was still open. Upon entering into the home, the still traumatised woman recalled seeing blood on the floor of the lower flat and ventured upstairs. There she was confronted with the sight of the pensioner lying face up. His feet were bound, as his body lay in a pool of blood at the head of the stairway. He was clad in the same clothing she had seen him in on the previous day, and was still wearing his long-boots. She called out to him, but after realising he was dead, she immediately retreated and raised an alarm.

The police were summoned, and on arrival cordoned off the scene and took her back upstairs. That’s when she noticed that the house was ransacked, and the DVR for the eight security cameras were missing. Sources revealed that Branche had recently withdrawn approximately half-a-million dollars to effect some repairs to his home. But search as the police might, they couldn’t find the money, or anything of substantial value.
A police source has since confirmed that a fourth suspect, who is known to law enforcement officials to be involved criminal activity, is being sought and they’re working on the theory that it was an inside job, since several persons who are working on the house would have known about the money transaction.

The police have since indicated in a press release that Branche was stabbed five times about the body; that two of those wounds were to the abdomen, another was slightly left of the heart, and a fourth in the right of the chest. The fifth wound, the police said, was in the left region of the back of the head.

Branche’s former reputed wife reportedly said she that the last time she saw the father of her two children was three days ago when he visited her to take some plants. She said she was on her way to take him some items he had requested on Friday morning when her son called and told her he had some bad news regarding his father. She described Branche as an easy-going and friendly person who had no problems with anyone as far as she knows. The Guyana Chronicle understandsthat initially, nine persons were arrested and questioned, but only three remained in custody, assisting with investigations overnight. The body of the elderly man was taken to the Skeldon Hospital Mortuary.