By Rabindra Rooplall

THE post-mortem on the partially dismembered body of Curt Anthony Burke will be done today as the police await the results to ascertain whether the case is one of murder or death by dangerous driving.Police sources have disclosed that the incident is being thoroughly examined.

Relatives of the 40-year-old man believe that he was killed at a different location from where his body was found.

Burke body minus the lower right leg was found in a clump of bushes at the roadside at Drill, Mahaicony,East Coast Demerara, about a mile from his home.

Although police suspect that Burke was the victim of a hit-and-run accident, some relatives contend that the labourer was murdered.

He was also found with his skull bashed in and his head was almost severed from his body.

Police investigators are basing their theory on some pieces of material – suspected to be from a vehicle – that were found near to Burke’s body.

The man’s twisted bicycle was also found nearby.

Investigators now have the task of first locating a vehicle that matches the debris recovered at the scene.
Burke’s aunt Carmen Burke is contending that his death is not the result of an accident.

“His head had a large hole in it like someone shot him and his leg was chopped from his body. There was no blood or skid marks where they said the accident occurred. There was blood nowhere, it appears as if he was killed and brought to that place to make it look like an accident.”

Other reports say that a car struck Burke’s bicycle on the Drill Public Road, and the driver, upon investigating what he had hit, was told by a man nearby to return to his vehicle and leave, since staying and looking around may put him in problems.

The driver on the dark roadway heeded he man’s advice and left the scene. Burke’s bicycle was found with only a minor bend to the wheel.

“They found him with his arm in the air, like if he was blocking chops and lashes,” another relative said.

According to reports, Burke was drinking on Tuesday night and did not return home as usual to assist his relative with work around the yard.

“Is a very dark area he living in and I don’t know if anybody do him anything when he was coming home or if he was drunk,” one resident said.

The resident added: “He lives with his 10-year-old son, but the boy is by his aunt, so we didn’t see him Wednesday morning as usual.”

Burke was described as a “jack of all trades,” but worked mostly as a labourer and mason.