Grenada recorded its first homicide last week Saturday following the gruesome chopping death of 79 year old John Merchant, a Guyanese national who resided at Pearls, St. Andrew for several years.
Kelly Daniel, 27 year old Pearls, St. Andrew resident, appeared in court on Tuesday to face a charge for Non-Capital Murder, after he reportedly mutilated the body of the elderly man at his home during an altercation just after 5 a.m. on Saturday. The circumstances that led to the brutal killing remains unclear, however, it is understood that at the time of the attack, the deceased was in bed, accompanied by his female Guyanese companion.
THE NEW TODAY understands that the decapitated head of the man was found in the bathroom of his home, where the murder accused is said to have dismembered the body, before placing them in buckets, which were later discovered floating in the nearby Dumfermline river.
Unconfirmed reports are that Daniel, who was employed by Merchant as a gardener, had threatened to kill him during a verbal altercation last week Wednesday.
“He (Daniel) went up there (to the home of the deceased), and threatened to kill him. The man asked for them (the police) to give him a warning. They (the police) went out to look for him but they didn’t see him,” a source said.
When the murder accused made his first court appearance at the Grenville Magistrate’s Court, he received strong support from family members who expressed “shock” over the incident, and broke down in tears creating an emotional scene outside of the courthouse.
“He (Daniel) is a quiet person…always interacting with people in the community, if you go in Pearls, and find out, everybody will tell you the same thing about Kelly…you could go right now (there) and find out about that child if he is a bad person. He was never a bad person,” a distraught aunt told reporters.
“Something is not right,” she said, recalling that her nephew and the deceased had a very “good relationship” to the point where “he used to call him dad.”
Her sentiments were echoed by several Pearls, St. Andrew residents, who in dismay, flocked the outskirts of the Grenville Magistrate’s Court, where Daniel appeared unrepresented before female Magistrate Nevlyn John, who read the indictable charge to him.
The Police Prosecution team indicated that it has four (4) witnesses to provide evidence in the matter, including two (2) doctors, a police officer, along with the 69 year old Guyanese companion of Merchant, who was not present when the matter was called in court.
THE NEW TODAY understands that the elderly Guyanese national moved to Grenada several years ago, with his Grenadian wife, who has since passed away.
The murder accused has been remanded to the Richmond Hill Prison until March 7.