An autopsy conducted on the body of Timothy Fraser, the welder whose body was recovered from the Mazaruni River last weekend, has confirmed that Fraser was murdered. As such, investigators have since taken several persons into custody and are looking for more suspects.
The post-mortem was conducted by forensic Pathologist, Dr Nehal Singh on Wednesday. According to the autopsy, Fraser died as a result of, among other things, blunt trauma to the head. The autopsy also concluded that the man died two days before workmates said he went overboard.
The welder’s body was on Sunday recovered from the Mazaruni River, one day after he was reported missing. The 44-year-old Fraser of Savannah Park Housing Scheme, New Amsterdam, had been working with a mining company for more than two months when workers said he went missing.
The workers had given family members conflicting reports. Initially, they said he was dressed in his welding outfit waiting on a boat to collect him at a landing and decided to go for a swim. When the boat came – according to that story – only his clothing were seen.
Later on Saturday, the story changed and relatives were told that he went to another location in the interior to work. Relatives said that they were told that he left to go to the waterfront and only his clothes were found at the waterfront.
Then on Sunday, relatives heard that Fraser was on a boat sitting on a chair which fell overboard and he jumped into the water to retrieve the chair after taking off his welding suit.
However, a diver who later went into the water where the chair reportedly fell had claimed that no such item was found in the water.
A search party which included close relatives and friends gathered information from the area and were told that the only eyewitness to what transpired left the area on Sunday morning and no one knew which part of the country he is from or where he was heading.
However, by mid-Sunday, Fraser’s partly decomposed body was discovered a close distance to the shore. The body bore what appeared to be marks of violence.
According to the autopsy report, Fraser died on Thursday whereas workers say he was alive on Saturday. It is believed that Fraser was asleep when he was beaten and then taken in a boat to a point in the river and then thrown into the murky water.
None of his welding equipment or clothing was found in the camp. Police continue to investigate the man’s death. (Guyana Times)
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