Police were yesterday scouring the Canje area for two shotgun-toting men who killed a wood-cutter at around noon on Thursday, last, before fleeing with his outboard engine and other valuables.
The victim, 33-year-old Cleveland Hetmyer called ‘Water Dog’, was reportedly slain during a confrontation with the suspects in an area some 90 miles up the Canje River.
Cleveland Hetmyer's relatives await the arrival of his body at the New Amsterdam stelli
Hetmyer’s body, with bullet wounds to the leg and ribcage, was recovered late yesterday afternoon. Police said that the victim was lying in his boat, which was moored near the shore.
The killers are reportedly known as ‘Esmond’ and ‘Bragga’, and police believe that they are involved in marijuana cultivation.
Reports state that Hetmyer, who was accompanied by four others, including a five-year-old boy, had just entered his boat, which was tied near the shore, when two armed men in a canoe approached then.
They ordered Hetmyer to hand over his boat and other valuables. When he refused to, the one with the shotgun shot him in the leg.
The gunman’s accomplice then took the shotgun and blasted Hetmyer in the side.
Kaieteur News understands that the gunmen had threatened to kill the other persons, but they managed to flee into the bushes.
Leaving the mortally wounded man in his boat, the killers then made off with Hetmyer’s outboard engine and other valuables in the vessel.
The survivors subsequently contacted police, who went into the area and recovered the body.
The slain man’s relatives told Kaieteur News that Hetmyer lived alone at High Dam, Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam. They said that he left his home two Wednesdays ago to travel up the Canje River where he plies his trade cutting wood.
The victim, whose relatives said had his own boat, was reportedly accompanied by Anthony Blair, 23, called ‘Horse man’, Alfred Henry, called ‘Buck Boy’, and Henry’s sons, aged 13 and five.
According to the relatives, Hetmyer had gone to help to dismantle Henry’s house and transport it out of the River.
The relatives recounted that Hetymer had also alleged that he was having problems with some people in the river who were “destroying his crops” and giving him a hard time.
They said that they received a call yesterday that Hetmyer had been shot and his body was in a boat drifting in the river. He is survived by five brothers and eight sisters. His father George Hetmyer is also a logger, but it is understood that he was doing logging at a different location up the Canje River.
The body has been taken to a New Amsterdam, Berbice funeral parlour.
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