Police identify ‘Potential suspect’ in White Angel Building murder
POLICE investigators have identified a potential suspect in their hunt for the killer or killers in Tuesday’s murder of a Chinese woman in the city’s central business district (CDB), sources told Solomon Star yesterday.
The killing has raised a chorus of condemnation by the government and the Solomon Islands Chinese Association.
It is believed the lead of a potential suspect comes from the information downloaded from a hard drive retrieved by police at the crime scene on Tuesday morning, the day of the murder, which has shocked the different communities in Honiara.
In a paid statement published yesterday, the Solomon Islands Chinese Association, said the “Chinese Community strongly condemns (the) recent killing.”
The government said in a statement it denounced the killing and would leave no stone unturned in the search for the killer or killers.
In their investigation so far, police believe the potential suspect holds the key as to who was involved or who might be behind it. They also believe the potential suspect did not act alone, the sources said.
“There’s a shark under the canoe. And this particular individual holds the key to unveiling the mystery surrounding the broad daylight murder,” the sources said.
One theory being closely examined is whether the murder of the 44-year-old mother of two is an inside job.
The sources said police investigators have spoken to workers, some of whom said the husband, a Chinese man, was never seen around the shop too often.
But as fate had it, the husband and a male shop worker were the first on the scene. Minutes earlier, the woman’s husband received a telephone call from his wife as she lay in a pool of blood inside the backdoor of their shop, the sources said.
According to the sources, the woman told her husband, she had just been attacked by two men.
Immediately thereafter, the husband and the shop male worker broke open through the sidewall of an adjoining shop to get to the back door of the shop as it was still locked at the time.
When police arrived at the scene around 9:30 am on Wednesday morning, the husband of the murdered woman and a male shop worker was already at the scene.
“It is too early to make any conclusion but the male shop worker is the key to this case. If he is not the potential suspect that police believe he is, then he holds the key to unlock the information police are looking for,” the sources said.
It is understood that if the potential suspect is not taken in over the next day or two, police may extend their hunt to other provinces in their search for a breakthrough.
The Government yesterday issued a statement denouncing the murder and vowing its law enforcement institutions would not rest until those responsible “are caught and punished.”
“The government denounced the act as grossly senseless and unacceptable,” it said in a statement on Wednesday.
In its published statement on Thursday, the Solomon Islands Chinese Association said:
“The Solomon Islands Chinese Association, its members and like so many peace-loving Solomon Islanders, are shocked and traumatised by the senseless and barbaric killing of a Chinese woman in Point Cruz on Tuesday.
“We condemn this murder in the strongest terms. We urge the public, including the Chinese community who might have any information that will assist police in their investigations, to contact the police directly,” the statement said.
Fujian Solomon Community Association yesterday also expressed shock about the murder of the woman.
They also joined the government, Solomon islanders, and investors to condemn the brutal act.
By ALFRED SASAKO
Newsroom, Honiara
