Police in the South American country say Jermaine Charles, 22, who was being held at Sparendaam Police Station following a brief court appearance last Wednesday (June 25), escaped from his holding cell that evening.
Guyana Police Commissioner Henry Greene said it appears Charles had help from relatives.
Charles was the first person arrested in connection with the high-profile, execution-style murders on April 22, 2006 of Phulmattie Persaud, 54, who was visiting from Mississauga, her two brothers and a security guard.
Richard "Chucky" Daniels has also been arrested in connection with the killings.
Three of the suspected assassins, including Anthony Heywood, 24, have been shot to death in confrontations with police. Investigators are looking for at least three more suspects, including Rondell Rawlins, considered Guyana's
most-wanted fugitive, a man identified only as Sonny and Orlando Andrews, a.k.a. “Biscuit.”
The main target in the killings was Persaud's brother, Satyadeow Sawh, 50, Guyana's Agriculture Minister at the time, and a Canadian citizen. The four were shot to death inside Sawh's home in East Coast Demerara, Guyana.
Charles, nicknamed "Skinny," was arrested in the winter of 2006. Guyana Police say he's already facing eight murder charges related to other killings, including that of a 12-year-old boy.
The government of Guyana issued a statement saying it believed the killing of Sawh and his siblings was an attempt to destabilize the country before upcoming elections at the time.
Persaud's husband, Bob, said his wife's killers are simply "hired guns," and that a more powerful figure likely ordered the murders.
He and other family members have filed a $100-million lawsuit against Guyana's government and police department on allegations of wrongful death and failure to protect a government minister.
A mother of two who worked for Scotiabank for nearly 30 years, Persaud volunteered hundreds of hours at Hindu temples in Mississauga and across the GTA, her family said.
She was in Guyana to mark the anniversary of her mother's death.
lrosella@mississauga.net
