Days after Orlando Fitzpatrick, 52, also called “Jim”, and his son, 17-year-old Jesse Fitzpatrick, also called “Jes”, of Lot 160 3rd Street, Grove, East Bank Demerara were brutally murdered close to the Venezuelan border, local law enforcement officers have left for the area to carry out their investigations.
The shooting incident is believed to have occurred last Thursday evening.
A team of police ranks left Georgetown on Sunday morning for a place called “Curisina”, located a few miles from the Venezuela/ Guyana border, but on the Guyanese side.
The bodies of the teenager and his father are still with Venezuelan authorities, but relatives are completing all necessary legal paper work to have the bodies return to Guyana.
Futile
Attempts to make contact with Janice Fitzpatrick, a sister of Orlando, who resides in Venezuela, proved futile.
Nevertheless, at the home of the dead man, his wife Marlyn Allick stated that she last spoke with him on Thursday evening about 18: 30h, when he telephoned to inform her that he and his son were on their way home.
The visibly shaken woman stated that she averaged that they would arrive in Georgetown around midnight on Thursday, but this was not the case.
She said after she did not hear from him the following morning, she attempted to call, but the phone rang out.
She tried several times, but was unsuccessful, and decided to call her mother-in-law to inquire, but her phone rang out as well. Later in the day, she noted that her mother-in-law informed her via telephone that she heard of a shooting in the area where the men were last seen.
Frustrated
The frustrated woman stated that it did not cross her mind that it was her son and husband who were shot. She called back the same number that her husband called from the previous night and inquired about their whereabouts.
The person who answered, reportedly a shopkeeper, told her that her husband and son had left in a boat with the captain and another passenger, noting that he too heard about the shooting. By then, she added that her sister-in-law called and informed her of the shooting.
News spread that the dead men were being brought out of the creek, so the sister- in-law waited and was confronted with her worst fears.
As the bodies were taken out of the boat, they were discovered to be Orlando and his son.
Allick went on to say that the woman called back and related the horrific news.
She is still puzzled as to why the bodies were not brought to Georgetown, but rather went back to Venezuela, noting that this is a bit suspicious.
In addition, she noted that the two other men are in the custody of Venezuelan authorities and are assisting with investigations.
While she noted that information remains sketchy, she said she believes that the incident was a set up.
“When my husband called, he tell me that he had gold. Now they rob me of everything, especially meh son and husband, who was the main breadwinner in the family,” she told Guyana Times International.
Aggrieved
The aggrieved widow stated that her family is renting a house and had all intentions to get a plot of land to build their own home. “I got rent to pay… I got not one but two funerals to do… I got bills… I got a child still in school… what can I do now?” she asked.
The woman has no one else, except her three other children, who are still in a state of shock.
Her son “Jes” reportedly left school to get into the business with his father so that they can work together to make life better.
The last time the woman saw her son was in June, the day after Father’s Day, but she recently saw her husband in August after he came out of the interior to undergo medical treatment. They were heading out and would have returned after the holiday.
The family is formerly of Wauna Village, North West District, but moved to the city a few years ago.
