Police release suspect in Oropouche killing

A 37-year-old suspect held in connection with the killing of Adio Julien has been released from police custody after investigators failed to gather enough evidence to lay charges. The suspect was detained after he allegedly threatened Julien the night before his corpse was fished out of a garden pond at Berridge Trace, South Oropouche. Since his release, police have stepped up patrols over fears of reprisal killings.

A senior investigator said they were unable to find the murder weapon or any clues to link the suspect to the murder. On Tuesday night, more than a week after Julien’s throat was slit and his body dumped in a pond near his home, a gunman disrupted his wake at South Oropouche, firing several shots and sending mourners running for safety.

Police believe the gunshots were fired as a warning to Julien’s relatives. Kelon Marchan, 26, of Dow Village, South Oropouche, narrowly escaped death. He told police that he was attending Julien’s wake at Spanish Mill Road, Berridge Trace, when he walked out to the road with three other men.

It was reported that a man dressed in black, with a black bandana over his face, ran up to them, pulled out a pistol and began firing at Marchan. He ran a short distance away and hid in some bushes. Oropouche police responded in minutes but could not find the gunman. Julien was murdered two Saturdays ago as he headed to a friend’s home to cook a meal. His body was found stuck in a pond used to water plants.

Investigators are working on a theory that Julien was killed after he stole $150,000 worth of marijuana from a drug dealer in Oropouche. An autopsy on Julien’s body at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, by pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov confirmed he was killed before being thrown into the pond. Alexandrov said Julien was shot in the kneecap and his throat was also slit.