After spending close to five days in police custody in connection with the murder of bank employee Shannon Banfield, a St Helena man was released on Monday night and later re-arrested over allegations he stole keys belonging to several Housing Development Corporation (HDC) apartments.
The man, who was deemed a person of interest following the discovery of Banfield’s decomposing body at IAM and Company Ltd, Charlotte Street, Port-of-Spain, on December 8, surrendered to police the day she was found. The man was deemed a person of interest in the case after he failed to show up to work after Banfield had gone missing three days earlier in the store he worked. He claimed he was sick and could not go to work.
After the autopsy determined Banfield, 20, was smothered to death, Homicide detectives consulted with Director of Public Prosecution Roger Gaspard, SC, on charging him with the woman’s murder, but were told they did not have sufficient evidence for such a charge.
The man’s freedom was short-lived though, as bunches of keys found at his home during a police search on December 10 were found to be keys to apartments in the Princes Town area, where the suspect worked a little over a year ago. Police were given a plausible explanation as to why the suspect had the keys, but up to late yesterday he was still being interrogated.
The man was recently transferred to the Charlotte Street Branch of IAM due to staff shortage, officials said, and had been transferred to Port-of-Spain about a month ago.
On Saturday, Matthew Maharaj, another man once deemed a person of interest in the case, was released from police custody after no evidence was found to link him to the murder. On his release, Maharaj called for an apology and questioned how he was going to move on now that his character have been smeared. He has not been re-arrested or questioned since.
Banfield was buried yesterday following a ceremony at the Seventh Day Adventist Church at Prizgar Road, San Juan.