Kildonan man charged with fiery death of father
Charged: Collin Ross
A 50-year-old farmer of Kildonan Village, Corentyne, Berbice, was yesterday remanded to prison for murdering his father.
The charge states that Collin Ross on Monday 10th April, last, murdered 82-year-old Rudolph Ross in a dwelling house. He was not required to plead to the indictable charge before Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh at the #51 Magistrate’s Court. The accused was remanded to prison until May 8th. The matter was transferred to the Whim Magistrate’s Court.
According to initial reports, Rudolph Ross, a pensioner of lot 14 Kildonan Village, Corentyne, Berbice, was burnt to death in his home on April 10, last. The inferno which reportedly started in the kitchen quickly engulfed to the two-storey concrete structure while the senior Ross was still trapped inside.
It was during the time he was fighting to escape the blaze through a heavily grilled front window leading to his verandah, that he succumbed to the smoke and heat.
A kerosene bottle was found at the scene, and this was reportedly an indication that it was the substance that was used to set the house alight.
Collin Ross, his son and former member of the Guyana Police Force, who had re-migrated back to Guyana sometime ago, was residing with his father in the three-bedroom house. He was arrested the very next day and questioned.
In the beginning the accused had an alibi of his whereabouts, but upon checking into the alibi given, investigators found that the man’s explanations were not “adding up”. He reportedly continued to give authorities conflicting reports, and investigators in Berbice with the help of the Force’s Major Crimes Unit gathered what they determined was sufficient evidence to institute charges.