Buxton killer was burnt alive - post mortem report Guyana Chronicle July 10, 1999 RAUL Herod, the gunman in this week's mass murder at Buxton, East Coast Demerara, was burnt alive while he lay bleeding from gunshot wounds to the head, Government Pathologist Dr. Leslie Mootoo said yesterday. Mootoo told the Chronicle that Herod's son, Rondell, 11, also had bullet wounds in the head and was still alive when flames swept over him after his father had set their two-flat wooden house on fire. He said "some of the victims died of gunshot wounds while others were burnt alive". Herod's nephew, Orwin, 15, whose body was found in the yard, died from a bullet wound which perforated a lung, Mootoo said. Another son, Jermaine, nine, who survived the massacre with a bullet in the left side jaw, was still a patient in the Georgetown Hospital up to yesterday. `Bad words' (uncomplimentary remarks) from his mother about his wife apparently were the last straw for Herod, 36, who flew into a rage just before midnight Tuesday, shooting family members and torching the house before shooting himself in the head. In the end, eight people were dead, including the killer. Herod sent his wife Denise, 27, away from the Buxton house they shared with his mother and other family members before he began shooting them at point-blank range with a .32 Taurus pistol. Dead are Herod's grandmother, Angela Herod, 97; his mother, Shirley Cole, 56; aunt, Patricia Harris, 58; niece, Jonnelle Herod, 10; nephew, Orwin Herod, 15; son, Rondell Herod, 11; and daughter Nandy Herod, 14. His grandmother is believed to have perished in the fire after she was trapped upstairs, but reports said she was not shot. Relatives and neighbours said the relationship between the gunman, an operations supervisor at the Securicor security firm, and the rest of his family had long been stormy. Survivor Jermaine, who fled the house during the shooting and hid at a neighbour's, is likely to be discharged from the Georgetown Hospital in a few days, nurses reported yesterday. According to a nurse, the young patient is in stable condition and well-oriented and may be going home soon. The Chronicle understands he has started to move around the ward and was visited by representatives of several religious organisations yesterday. He would have to undergo surgery to remove the bullet, hospital officials said. Jermaine's left side face is now swollen from the bullet wound but he said it was no longer hurting him. He is also drinking liquids and is speaking with less effort. A relative yesterday said the funerals for the seven victims are planned for Tuesday. A © page from: Guyana: Land of Six Peoples