AN attack on a sexagenarian may have been the cause of a double tragedy that struck a family at Stanleytown, West Bank Demerara, early Saturday morning.
Family sources say 64-year-old Vernon Bernard, a mechanic, might have been struck from behind by an unidentified intruder while he was in the kitchen of his home. That's the only rational explanation they could give yesterday for the fire that razed the Bernard house and led to Bernard himself being burned to death.
And as if all that wasn't enough, Bernard's widow, Dorothy, still could not account for the whereabouts of their daughter, Velda Allison Bernard.
Velda, 22, reportedly disappeared shortly after the gruesome tragedy.
The fire broke out at about 01:00 hours fire last Saturday morning. Vernon Bernard was said to be home alone as Mrs. Bernard and Velda were on the East Coast Demerara visiting relatives.
Mr. Bernard's body was burnt beyond recognition with his head completely burnt out, his wife related. She said this was an indication that her husband was doused with an inflammable substance and then set alight by the alleged attacker. Bernard was apparently struck from behind and became unconscious or was even dead before being set alight.
Mrs. Bernard said that the part of the house and the position in which Mr. Bernard was found gave the impression that her husband was in the kitchen cooking at the time tragedy struck.
Mrs. Bernard said her daughter returned home on the night of the tragedy but the atmosphere was suspicious and eerie because there were no lights in their house. And this was strange, as her husband would have put on the lights, as there could not have been an electricity disconnection because according to her they did not have any outstanding bills for the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL).
Apparently, she said the attacker was already in the house and either killed or seriously injured her husband. It was in this time span that the building went up in flames and her daughter mysteriously, and it is strongly felt that she has been abducted by the attacker.
She further explained that she was to have returned home on the same night but her cousin on the East Coast Demerara whom she visited begged her to stay the night, and feels strongly that had she returned she would have reached the same fate as her husband.
Mrs. Bernard said her husband cannot bend as a result of a serious back problem, as such, he is not employed and is home most of the time.
The distraught woman is still extremely worried about the disappearance of her daughter who is her only child, but she received some hope yesterday after a phone call was made by her daughter to a relative's home saying: "I want my mom!" However, the phone call has not been traced to where it emanated from. But the prime suspect in the tragedy, a fugitive who is wanted for murder and rape and used to live next door to the Bernards appears to be in hiding was spotted in the La Retraite backdam, a village nearby Stanleytown, by villagers early yesterday morning.
Mrs. Bernard related that her family and the fugitive had a misunderstanding about two years ago but she thought that matter was finished, and since then she has had no further conflicts with him or any other villager. However, she indicated that the fugitive had made threats that there are five persons who had to "finish off."
Up to yesterday the police were combing the area where the fugitive is reportedly in hiding.