Rupununi ‘arrow villain’ remanded for shooting cousin

A Central Rupununi farmer accused of murdering his cousin was on Wednesday afternoon hauled before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan to be charged with the capital offence, and was remanded to prison.
The charge read that Levi Steven on March 16, 2017, at Kumu Village (Region Nine), unlawfully murdered Arnold Gordon.

The unrepresented farmer who stood fidgeting in the prisoner’s dock was not required to plead to the indictable charge. Steven will make his next court appearance at the Lethem Magistrate’s Court on June 6, when the matter will proceed to trial.
According to media reports, Police, in collaboration with public-spirited villagers, had apprehended the suspect just last Sunday evening, after he had evaded the authorities for more than two weeks.
Reports reaching this newspaper are that the deceased was a 24-year-old labourer of Crapaud Pond, Kumu Village.
It is believed that the 28-year-old accused, on the day in question, armed himself with a lethal indigenous weapon (a bow and arrow) and fatally shot his cousin in the armpit area. He subsequently concealed the death by burying the corpse in a shallow grave just a short distance from the village in an area known as “Tiger Plate”.
A six-year-old relative of the deceased reportedly witnessed part of the gruesome episode. Reports are that Gordon and the boy left home on the fateful day to go fishing at a pond in the Tiger Plate area, where they encountered the accused and an argument ensued. Steven then reportedly picked up a piece of wood and metal rod and struck Gordon. The six-year-old becoming fearful, ran home to inform his grandmother of the incident.
As Gordon failed to return home by dawn the following day, his mother reported the matter to the village Toshao, who then alerted the Police.
The Toshao led a search team that stumbled upon what resembled a grave in a clump of bushes approximately 20 feet from the accused’s camp. After several minutes of digging, they were greeted by a protruding human hand; after which Police officials were summoned. The corpse was unearthed and transported to the Lethem Hospital.