TWO decades after Viola Thomas was allegedly stabbed to death by her husband, the man was apprehended by the police after he was identified by the victim’s relatives from a recent story published by the Guyana Chronicle.

Viola Thomas was only 23-years old when the resident of Cubacalli, Moruca , North West District, was stabbed several times about her body by her reputed husband Philbert Thomas.

The then Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had recommended that the suspect be charged with murder while he was in hiding.

The matter was heard at the Acquero Magistrate’s Court at Moruca where several witnesses testified against Thomas, who was charged in absentia.

Eight years later, the matter was recalled at the same court and was adjourned with no appointed date for resumption; the investigating rank was then Detective Lance Corporal 13004 Linden Lord, who is now Senior Superintendent and Commander of ‘E’ Division (Linden).

After twenty one years, Ms. Alina Thomas, a sixty-three-year-old resident of the North West District and mother of Viola Thomas, never stopped thinking of her daughter. While reading the Guyana Chronicle recently, she identified Philbert in a photograph; the man who had given his name as ‘Gilbert Thomas’ to the police.

Alina Thomas went to the Acquero Police Station and made a report of what she saw in the daily newspaper pertaining to the suspect who was remanded to prison on two counts of inflicting grievous bodily harm in a separate matter.

The man was charged on August 22, 2019 with two counts of inflicting grievous bodily harm at the Christianburg Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Wanda Fortune and was remanded to prison after he pleaded not guilty.

A court order was filed and the man was identified by Ms. Alina Thomas.

During questioning, he subsequently confessed to the crime and will be charged for murder.