Husband, friend confess to killing woman found hanging from tree

Days after Police said they suspected that the woman whose body was found hanging from a tree at her Yarrowkabra, Soesdyke-Linden Highway home, was murder, it was confirmed by a post-mortem examination that she was bludgeoned to death and then hanged.
This led to the arrest of two persons, including her husband.
Forty-eight-year-old Edith Reuben, a housewife, was discovered sometime between 00:30h and 06:00h on Monday last.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Reuben lived with her reputed husband who told Police that they, along with several neighbours, were consuming alcohol on Monday last. However, after some time the others left for their respective residences, except for a male friend.
The man said that his wife stayed on her verandah consuming alcohol while he and the other man retired to bed.
At about 04:00h, he told Police that the male guest awoke him to tell him that he was leaving their home. After acknowledging, the woman’s husband said he went back to sleep.
Two hours after, he said he awoke and made the gruesome discovery of his reputed wife’s motionless body hanging from a mango tree in the yard.
The body was taken down and escorted to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre where she was pronounced dead.
A statement from the Police’s headquarters on Wednesday last stated that because of the positioning of the woman’s body it was suggested that she was murdered, and her body was placed at the scene.
On Saturday, the PME conducted by Government Pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh confirmed the woman died because of asphyxiation due to hanging compounded by blunt trauma to the head.

Confession
Following the conclusion of the post-mortem examination, the woman’s husband and the alleged male visitor were arrested and remain in Police custody. It was also reported that the men confessed to killing the woman.
When Guyana Times contacted Regional Commander of the district, Senior Superintendent Mahendra Siwnarine, he said based on the suspects’ confession, the woman’s husband went outside and found her in a “compromising” position with the male visitor. As such, he stuck her to her head using a piece of wood.
This caused Reuben to become unconscious, and the men thought she was dead. They both then joined forces by picking the woman up and placing her to hang from the mango tree to make it look as though she committed suicide.
This caused her to suffocate and later lose her life. The husband then fabricated the story to tell the Police, that he found his wife hanging from the tree.
They remain in custody pending charges. (G9)