Headless, limbless body identified; male suspect arrested

By Leroy Smith

[www.inewsguyana.com] – The woman whose headless and limbless body was discovered on the Annandale/Buxton foreshore on March 26 has been identified as Samantha Benjamin of Buxton, East Coast Demerara, while a male with whom she lived with has been taken into police custody.

iNews understands that Benjamin was a clothes vendor, who plied her trade at the vendors arcade in Georgetown. According to villagers, the night before the woman’s dismembered body was found loud music was being played from the house while they heard what sounded like screams of a woman.

Police swooped down at the Buxton house on Tuesday evening and took the young man into custody. A close friend of Benjamin, who identified himself as Dexter Philander told iNews that the woman has a teenaged daughter and that her husband lived in the United States.

iNews understands that Benjamin is a frequent visitor of the US but has been in Guyana since December 2014. Philander explained that he last saw Benjamin three weeks ago and calls to her mobile number went unanswered; thus he figured she was in the US with her husband.

A relative of Benjamin told iNews that they too thought she was out of the country. Residents said the initial owner of the house in which Benjamin and the suspect lived in died some time ago.

They recounted that they are not familiar with the personal details of the suspect, but observed that he moved into the house shortly after the elderly man passed away.

According to residents, the suspect would usually ride a very old motorcycle, play football with the males in the community and smoke a lot of marijuana. They explained that after the body was discovered they observed him “keeping to himself.”

The residents also recalled that on Saturday last two women visited the house and took away a pink suitcase. Last evening at the Vigilance Police Station, the suspect was escorted from the lock ups to another location under heavy police guard and shackled in handcuffs.

When asked by reporters if he killed the woman and what he used to dismember her body, he responded that he did not commit the act. Persons said that he is originally from Essequibo and not from Buxton.