Duo found dead in hotel parking lot ingested cyanide – Min Benn confirms
Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn confirmed that 25-year-old Richie Hansraj and 34-year-old Justin Teixeira, who were found dead in their car in the Marriott Hotel Parking Lot, would have ingested the lethal substance, cyanide.
Justin Teixeira and Richie Hansraj on one of their trips together overseas
“There is confirmation that cyanide was indeed ingested, further tests are being done overseas… but the test for cyanide was done in Guyana,” the Minister stated while adding that the final report will be submitted eventually.
The bodies of Hansraj and Teixeira were found in the wee hours April 23, 2022.
It was reported that an employee of the Marriott Hotel reported that they received a phone call from a relative of Teixeira on the evening of April 22 at about 23:30h, informing them that he suffering from a seizure and as such, asked for someone to check on him in his room.
Another employee was sent to Teixeira’s room on the sixth floor but it was empty. The hotel staff then went to Teixeira’s vehicle – a black Vezel motor car (PAC 2607) – in the parking lot, and the gruesome discovery was made.
Teixeira was reportedly sitting in the driver’s seat, and all the windows of the vehicle were halfway down. The employee said he opened the front passenger door and discovered Hansraj sitting in a crunch-like position.
Both the Police via 911 and an ambulance with an EMT were summoned to the scene, where the two men were pronounced dead by a doctor. The Police stated no marks of violence were seen on the exposed parts of the two bodies.
However, video footage showed that the two men were seen leaving the hotel together just after 22:00h but returned some 50 minutes later. Upon their return, the two men never left their parked vehicle, video footage has shown.
Additionally, a white hard substance was found in a plastic container in the backseat of the car which was later confirmed to contain cyanide.
Autopsies performed on April 25 on the bodies of men by Government Pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh returned inconclusive, thus the families of the two men were instructed to not cremate the bodies.
However, according to Minister Benn, with the confirmation of cyanide being ingested, permission was granted for the relatives to proceed with cremation. Hansraj was cremated on May 4 while Teixeira was cremated on May 8.
