A former associate yesterday confessed to killing George Bacchus for a fee of $2M with the help of the victim’s male relative who was also paid to let the killer in, well-placed reports say.
The man, who used to sleep under Bacchus’ home and keep guard, yesterday led the police to the spot where he hid the murder weapon at the back of the Princes Street yard.
It is understood that both men revealed they were promised a further $1M each on the completion of the job. If their story is true the big question now is who paid these two men to commit the deed. Police had nothing to say on this or any other development yesterday.
Late yesterday afternoon ranks swooped on Bacchus’ home and found the gun buried in an area called the `mora pond’ used by the family to store cattle dung.
The gun, a Glock .38 revolver, actually belonged to Bacchus and was used to kill the self-confessed death squad informant as he lay drugged in his bed last Thursday.
Stabroek News understands that the man confessed to taking $1M for the job while the male relative, who has been in custody since Thursday morning also received a payment of $1M just to slip the lock of the door and let the killer into the room where Bacchus slept.
Relatives told Stabroek News that the police arrived at the home yesterday afternoon with the suspect in handcuffs and went straight to the dung heap.
A police officer is said to have taken off his shirt and was looking for the gun but came up empty-handed.
The suspect then “turn and put out he hand to the police and seh, ‘Officer loose this handcuff, is I kill deh man and I know where the gun deh’ and he went right to de spot and find the gun,” one relative told this newspaper.
Another relative admitted he was so angry right then that he told the suspect that that he wanted to kill him (the confessed shooter). “Imagine he use to live hey with dah man he go kill he like dah?”
Stabroek News understands that after burying the gun on the morning of the murder, the suspect washed his hands, quickly left the area and returned later in the morning when word was out that Bacchus was dead.
Friend turns deadly foe According to reports, the suspect used to live at the home after Bacchus’ brother, Shafeek, was gunned down on January 5.
He would sleep in a hammock underneath the house and was one of the many persons who were protecting Bacchus who had claimed that he was marked for death after revealing information on the killing Squad. However, a few days before his death, the suspect and Bacchus had a misunderstanding and he left the home.
“He seh that Bacchus threaten to kill he and he shoot he first,” a relative recalled.
Reports are that on the night of his death Bacchus complained of a headache and his male relative went to purchase tablets and reportedly gave him an overdose which put him to sleep.
Relatives yesterday pointed out that because the shooter was known, the dogs did not bark when he entered the yard and the male relative opened the door for him. The relatives said no one could have gained access to Bacchus’ room through the window which is a few feet above the stairway.
Since he was taken into custody, the male relative had told the investigators about the gun and about the man who buried it, however, on Saturday when the police dug up parts of the backyard they did not find the weapon.
This male relative was stopped several days ago by members of the Alpha Dragon Squad based at the Brickdam Police Station and questioned.
He had reported to other relatives that the police vehicle stopped and an officer called him and they questioned him about Bacchus’ whereabouts and whether the man slept at home in the nights.
Relatives were yesterday shocked that the male relative was actually an accomplice in Bacchus’ murder given that he now faces charges of being an accessory to murder. Meanwhile, relatives of the victim’s sister-in-law, Jean Bacchus are angry that the police have re-arrested her and are keeping her in custody at an East Coast location. They say she had nothing to do with Bacchus’ death. The woman was taken into custody on Saturday, released on Sunday and re-arrested on Tuesday.
According to reports, the male relative told investigators that Jean knew about the gun, a claim her relatives have vehemently denied. She was not at home at the time of Bacchus’ death.
The relatives refuted the claim by some persons that a rope was used to gain access to Bacchus’ room pointing out that the rope was always there to fill water tanks on the roof and it could not stand the weight of an adult person.
Bacchus went public earlier this year when his brother was killed, saying he was the intended target because he had spoken out again the activities of a death squad he had once supplied with information.
He alleged that Home Affairs Minister, Ronald Gajraj knew about the activities of the squad. Gajraj has repeatedly denied the allegations.
Bacchus was expected to testify shortly in the preliminary enquiry into his brother’s death. Three men, Ashton King, Shawn Hinds and Mark Thomas, who has since died, were charged with the murder based on information provided by Bacchus.
Several days before his death, George Bacchus had told Stabroek News that he had been told that a man with a rifle had been stalking him. Bacchus was also recently embroiled in another controversy over tapes he made in collaboration with a PPP MP and a GINA officer recanting allegations made against Gajraj. After the tapes were made, Bacchus said that he had done it for the promised money and safe passage out of the country and that he stood by his original allegations about the death squad.