Suspect to make court appearance shortly

Crane murder

– family concerned over delay of murder charge

Although 37-year-old Zaila Sugrim was laid to rest on Saturday after being reportedly murdered and buried in a shallow grave, the alleged perpetrator, her estranged husband, is yet to be arraigned for the murder.

The delay in instituting charges against the man was not taken lightly by her relatives, who are calling for justice to be served at the soonest.
Ahmad Haniff, the brother of the deceased, told Guyana Times that to date, his family has not been provided with feedback as to when the alleged murderer will be making his court appearance.
Addressing the issue, with respect to Police investigations, Commander of D Division (West Bank Demerara-East Bank Essequibo), Edmond Cooper stated that the suspect remains in Police custody while adding that he will be arraigned soon.
“That is an active investigation. What I could tell you is that we have gotten the cause of death and then we have to do some forensics in terms of ensuring that the DNA matches that of the name of the person. So we have gotten an extension to continue our investigation, so as soon as the Director of Public Prosecutions is finished, he will be arraigned,” the Commander stated.
According to the Police Commander, the matter is not being swept under the carpet or overlooked, but there are certain steps that have to be taken to ensure that justice is served.

He said that there needs to be specific testing conducted so that the case that the Police build when going to the courts will be concrete and accurate.
“These things have to go to where it is supposed to go, remember it is remains you found, he said something, we found some remains. We have got to send it to be tested and so to match the DNA and those kinds of things. The Police, we are doing our work,” Commander Cooper posited.
Less than a week ago, tears flowed down the cheeks of residents and the five children of the now dead woman as undertakers removed the body believed to be their mother’s from a shallow grave behind their Crane, West Coast Demerara (WCD) yard.
Zaila Sugrim was last seen by her sister at the Vreed-en-Hoop Stelling on May 11, when she entered the motor car with her estranged husband.
Guyana Times was told that on Saturday last at about 13:00h, Sugrim left her brother’s Diamond, East Bank Demerara (EBD) house where she had been living for the last eight months, to be picked up by her estranged husband to visit the businessman’s home where she was expected to celebrate the birthday of her eldest child.

However, the 14-year-old child reported that she did not see nor hear from her mother. By nightfall, the family became worried since it was very unusual for her not to call if she was out for long periods.
Her brother, Ahmad Haniff, grew worried and called her cellphone but the phone was turned off. Repeated attempts to reach Sugrim on her mobile proved futile and other family members confirmed that they had not heard from the woman since she left her brother’s home.
On May 12, 2019, the worried man visited the Diamond Police Station where he filed a missing persons’ report. In the company of several Police Officers, a visit was made to his sister’s estranged husband’s home, where the man was uncooperative, but nonetheless informed Haniff and the Police that he did not see Zaila nor does he want anything to do with her.
“So I seh bai, Zaila left to come by you, and we get footage to show that you pick she up Saturday 02:30h; he said no, he nah left the place and the children them know that he nah left the place,” the grieving brother had related.
After realising that something was amiss, the suspect’s children reportedly inspected CCTV footage of the home but a particular time period was deleted.
This was reported to Sugrim’s relatives, who in turn informed Police ranks. This led to ranks swooping down on the suspect’s La Grange, WBD property where a search was carried out, however, nothing was found.
After relatives made additional reports on Monday at the Diamond Police Station, another group of ranks swooped down on the suspect’s Crane home.
It wasn’t until a search of the suspect’s motor car was conducted by the Police that they received a break in the case after blood was spotted in the car’s trunk. This prompted Police to arrest the suspect and impound the car.
After much interrogation, the suspect finally broke down and confessed that he indeed killed his estranged wife and later led Police to where he buried the body, in a shallow grave behind his Crane home.
When this publication visited the scene, the stench of the decomposed body was strong and a large group of onlookers were gathered. All of her personal belongings which included her purse, shoes, jewellery and other items were found in the shallow grave.
The woman’s remains were placed in a hearse and taken away as her children, family, friends and residents looked on in disbelief.