Sergeant Tony Sulker, main suspect in murder of Attorney-at-law Richard Layne, dies

Guyana Police have disclosed that one of their colleagues, Sergeant Tony Sulker, took his own life after consuming a poisonous substance just hours after concrete evidence emerged, linking him to the stabbing death of Attorney-at-Law, Richard Layne earlier this week.

According to the spokesperson with the Guyana Police Force, Mark Ramotar, Sulker was pronounced dead at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation at about 9:15 (local time) on Friday night.

Investigators say they found clothing in a washing machine at the policeman’s home and video surveillance recordings contradicted Sulker’s account of his location where he claimed that he discovered Layne’s body slumped in the front seat of the car outside of the home they shared.

Late Wednesday, Layne’s body was found in his car with two stab wounds to his neck.

Sulker said he was unaware of his roommate’s death because he fell asleep. He further told detectives that on waking up to use the bathroom, he looked through the window and saw Layne’s car on the bridge and the deceased sitting in the driver’s seat in a slumped position.

“Sulker denied that he was in the company of the deceased on the night in question. He also denied going out with the deceased or having any involvement in the murder,” the Guyana Police Force said in its statement.

However, police investigations placed Sulker at a different location in the now late attorney-at-law’s car. Investigators said they examined a closed circuit television (CCTV) video recording from a nearby building and observed that a male, suspected to be Tony Sulker, exited the Jaguar car’s back passenger seat and went into a Restaurant.

A short while after, it was observed that Sulker returned to the car but there were no cameras in the area to verify the time the victim arrived at his residence.

According to police, Sulker in a written statement said he met Layne about four years ago at a function at the Marriott Hotel in Georgetown.

After they became friends, Layne asked him to move in with him, and he started living at the address about four years ago. Sulker said he and Layne never had any problems, and he denied that they had an intimate relationship.

The late lawyer’s mother, Penelope Lewis, informed police on Friday that as she was about to leave her deceased son’s residence when she observed Sulker drove into the yard at a fast rate and parked his car in the garage.

“She said she immediately sensed something was wrong and decided to turn back. When she got to the house, she observed Sulker lying at the door on the bottom flat of the said house with what appeared to be vomit and a green substance about his body,” she said.(CMC)