[UPDATED] Oropouche man found with throat slit, beaten, shot

RELATIVES of an Oropouche man are hoping for a thorough police investigation so they can have closure after he was killed in the morning on May 19 as he was leaving his Berridge Trace home for church.

Around 10 am on May 20, Derryck "Roger" Harrynath, 57, was found slumped motionless against a wall in his garage with wounds to his chest by his cousins. He lived alone in Krishna Gardens off of Berridge Trace as his mother, wife and daughter all lived abroad.

Among the cousins who found his body was Sue Ann Soong Ramdhanie, 42. Speaking to Newsday at her home nearby on May 21, which was also her birthday, she said Harrynath would visit her mother daily and was always checking in with the family.

She said he was expected to pick up her mother on May 19 around 8.30 am to go to church.

She said her mother walked out of their trace to wait for Harrynath but he never showed.

Despite this, she went to church and when she returned home, saw his missed calls on her cellphone around the time he was supposed to pick her up.

Ramdhanie said her mother tried to return the calls but Harrynath did not answer. She said they thought nothing of it at the time.

However, they became concerned when one of her other cousins' calls also went unanswered. That's when they decided to look for him on May 20.

Arriving at his house, their worry for Harrynath's well-being increased after they noticed broken wares and a bloody t-shirt in his front yard and his dogs locked inside the house.

She said they called another cousin who came and, after climbing up to a window, was eventually able to spot Harrynath's body.

She said they contacted the police, who took almost three hours to arrive on the scene.

Ramdhanie said they managed to open the garage door to see if they could render aid but after seeing his body lying in a pool of blood, it was clear he was already dead.

Visiting the scene, Newsday saw what appeared to be a bullet hole in one of the car's bonnets and in a water heater tank at the back of the garage.

Ramdhanie said the family believes he was attacked just as he was about to leave home to pick up her mother for church on May 19.

"It look like as he open up the...garage door and he going to come out to open the gate...like they start to shoot at him and he run back inside the garage," she said.

"It look like he run to go back inside and he get confused and he start to pelt them down with things and start to fight them and he break up a whole set of things pelting them with it."

Police said they recovered two spent nine-millimetre shells at the scene.

She said the family is struggling to come to terms with the death which her cousin did not deserve.

"Well, yesterday was bad; today is a little bit better because I mean, the way how we feel when we feel like we can't breathe, we can't cope with it, but we're trying to take your mind off because your body can't take it. It was real sad.

"You thinking about how they run him like a dog and how he fight for his life and how you see how he fell. He was coming to go to church, he don't interfere with nobody. He does just be a little loud. He does try to keep to himself. Nobody ain't perfect but he wasn't bad for somebody to do that to him."

She said the family is awaiting news of when the autopsy would be done and to plan the funeral. In the meantime, she said she hopes the police conduct a thorough investigation.

"We wish we could get some justice out of it but at least some closure. People does always say they want justice or whatever but I mean you does still want to know eh. You does want to know who could hate this boy so much to do something like this."

She said nothing appeared to be missing from the house, which leads the family to believe the attacker intended to kill Harrynath.

Ramdhanie expressed disappointment in the authorities for the crime scourge which she described as "out of control.

"It's horrible and I think things could be done but they not really taking action to change this situation that we have here. This is not the United States, where you have to watch over a whole set of states.

"It's one little island and if everybody stop trying to fix themselves, they could help this country and it could be one of the best islands that we have."

Police are yet to establish a motive for the murder. PC Lall is continuing investigations. At the time Harrynath's body was discovered, police were less than five minutes away in Ramatally Park, where a burnt, decomposing body was also found and believed to be that of Russel Bicano, 64, who went missing on May 16.

This story was originally published with the title "Oropouche man, 57, found dead" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

AN Oropouche man was found dead in his Berridge Trace home in the morning on May 20.

Police said Derryck Harrynath, 57, was found by his cousins slumped against a wall with wounds to his chest around 10 am .

One cousin told police he went to check on Harrynath at his home after he failed to answer his phone. When he arrived and looked through the window, he saw Harrynath’s body. Another cousin jumped through a window to check on him.

Police were contacted and discovered two spent nine-millimetre shells.

A motive has not yet been established for the killing.

PC Lall is continuing investigations.