In a surprising turn of events, the Guyana Police Force mandated a post mortem on the body of Swiss House proprietor Farouk Razac, yesterday.
Post mortems are performed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the Georgetown Public Hospital .
However, the unusual move to have the examination undertaken on Tuesday was to quicken the pace of investigations and to satisfy the requests of relatives that the now dead businessman be buried, in keeping with Muslim rites.
Islam states that the dead should be buried expeditiously.
In the wake of the post mortem, the authorities issued a gag order on the pathologist and on anyone associated with the examination. Police sources said that the autopsy gave even stronger indications that Razac was slain.
According to a source, the pathologist told detectives that death was from asphyxiation due to ‘possible' ligature strangulation.
The source said that there were signs of external injuries on Razac's neck, and internally there was evidence of damage to tissues inside the neck.
But the source said that more tests are to be conducted to eliminate any other possibilities about the cause of death.
Kaieteur News understands that tests were also conducted to ascertain whether someone might have drugged Razac to incapacitate him prior to the attack. The source said that it is doubtful that the perpetrator could have been a woman, unless Razac was incapacitated.
Initial toxicology tests failed to uncover any evidence of a drug in his system. However, samples have been taken for further tests, likely to be conducted overseas.
Relatives of the dead businessman say that they have recruited the services of a pathologist from overseas to conduct a further autopsy on the body. The visitor was due in the country last night, and the second autopsy is due for today.
Meanwhile, Razac's wife, Carolan Lynch-Razac, remains in custody. She was arrested on Monday shortly after Razac, 44, was found dead in his Ireng Place , Bel Air Park residence.
By last night, the police were announcing that they had taken five others into custody. Sources said that among those detained are the handyman, who was at the house at the time when Mrs. Razac left the home; a maid, and two security guards.
Visitors to the home prior to the death all spoke of the large number of security guards at the premises. However, there are reports that no security guard was in place on Monday at the time Razac died.
One close friend said that on previous occasions when the police raided the premises, they were always able to secure tapes from the security cameras. On this occasion, when the police checked during their investigation of the death, they found that there were no tapes from the security cameras.
Razac was recently before the court for unlawful possession of four 9 mm magazines, one Beretta automatic pistol, and 120 rounds of 9 mm ammunition at his home on November 10 last year.
He was jointly charged with his wife, and they were scheduled to make another court appearance on May 17. Razac was the number one accused in the matter.
The case is being heard by Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys in the Georgetown Magistrates' Court.
• Last night, Razac's relatives hosted a wake in La Penitence ahead of the funeral, scheduled for today, according to Muslim rites.