UPDATE: Prime suspect in lawyer’s killing commits suicide

Last Updated on Saturday, 10 August 2024, 5:34 by Writer

A police officer took his own life after consuming a poisonous substance hours after police believed that they uncovered concrete evidence linking him to Wednesday night’s stabbing death of Attorney-at-Law, Richard Layne.

Guyana Police Force spokesman, Mark Ramotar said Police Sergeant Tony Sulker was pronounced dead at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation at about 9:15 Friday night.

Clothing found in a washing machine at the policeman’s home and video surveillance recordings contradicted Sulker’s account of his location where he claimed that he discovered Layne’s body slumped in the front seat of the car outside their D’Urban Backlands, Georgetown residence.

Shortly after Layne’s body, with two stab wounds to his neck, was retrieved from his car, investigators said Sulker informed them that he went into his room at about 8 p.m. Wednesday night and later fell asleep. He further reportedly told detectives that at about 10 p.m. Wednesday, he woke up to use the toilet and then went to the kitchen to drink water. Police said he further informed them that while in the kitchen, he looked through the window and observed Layne’s car on the bridge and the deceased sitting in the driver’s seat in a slumped position.

“Sulker denied that he was in the company of the deceased on the night in question. He also denied going out with the deceased or having any involvement in the murder,” the Guyana Police Force said in its statement.

However, police investigations placed Sulker at a different location in the now late attorney-at-law’s car. Investigators said they examined a closed circuit television (CCTV) video recording from a nearby building on Sheriff Street in the vicinity of Kamboat Chinese Restaurant.

“It was observed that at about 21:31 hrs on the night of August 7th, 2024, Layne’s car, a burgundy Jaguar vehicle with number plate PYY 2850, was observed driving north on Sheriff Street and stopped in the vicinity of the Kamboat Restaurant.

It was then observed that a male, suspected to be Tony Sulker, dressed in black three-quarter pants and a green jersey, exited the Jaguar car’s back passenger seat and went into Kamboat Restaurant.

A short while after, it was observed that Sulker exited Kamboat with a white plastic bag containing what appeared to be Chinese food and entered the car’s front passenger seat.

The Jaguar car then proceeded to turn west onto John Street. There were no more cameras in that area to see where the car turned. However, at 21:39 hours, it was observed that the car drove south along Mandela Avenue and then turned east into Hadfield Street, heading towards D’Urban Backlands.

No other cameras were in the area to verify the time the victim arrived at his residence,” police said.

Police said they searched the house and the clothing Sulker was seen wearing on the CCTV footage obtained on the night in question was found in a washing machine on the bottom flat of the house, already washed and dried.

Police said other dirty clothing was seen in his clothes basket, and the items were all placed in separate evidence bags, sealed, and taken to the crime laboratory for forensic examination. DNA samples were also taken from Tony Sulker.

According to police, Sulker said in a written statement that he met Layne about four years ago at a function at the Marriott Hotel in Georgetown. After they became friends, Layne asked him to move in with him, and he started living at the address about four years ago. Sulker said he and Layne never had any problems, and he denied that they had an intimate relationship.

The late lawyer’s mother, Penelope Lewis informed police on Friday that as she was about to leave her deceased son’s residence at Lot 183 Century Palm D’Urban Backlands, she observed Sulker drove into the yard at a fast rate and parked his car in the garage.

“She said she immediately sensed something was wrong and decided to turn back. When she got to the house, she observed Sulker lying at the door on the bottom flat of the said house with what appeared to be vomit and a green substance about his body” she said.