Another man charged for Arima woman's murder

A 21-YEAR-OLD Arima man is the second person charged in connection with the murder of 62-year-old Monica Ruiz. He was due to appear before an Arima magistrate yesterday, a police release said.

The man, Kent Coutou, aka Mark Thomas, was charged on the advice from Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard, SC, last Friday.

Ruiz of Sherwood Park, Arima, was last seen at her home at 5 pm on August 3. Relatives found her body bound and gagged a day later. Several items, including a refrigerator and washing machine, were missing from her home.

An autopsy showed she died from suffocation.

The suspect was arrested by the Homicide Bureau of Investigations (HBI) Region II, on March 1. Investigations were supervised by Ag ASP Sean Dhilpaul and included Insp Andrew Lawrence and Sgt Mitra Ramsumair.

The charge against Coutou was laid by PC Andre Lewis.

Leon Logan, 30, a labourer of Five Rivers, Arouca was charged with Ruiz’s murder on September 8.