Police are now trying to use CCTV footage to construct the last moments of Shannon Banfield’s life.
Homicide detectives told the T&T Guardian that in the footage they acquired from IAM and Company Ltd, Banfield was seen interacting with a man and being led to the secluded area where her body was eventually found three days later.
Detectives said footage showed Banfield gesturing to the man at the back of the store near to a doorway leading to the stockroom where her decomposing body was found.
The man is seen leaving Banfield in the store and making his way through the doors and out of the line of sight. He returns later and spends a few moments with Banfield before leading her through the doorway and out of sight. She was not seen again.
An hour and a half later, the man emerges from through the door, this time bare-backed, and leaves the compound.
Yesterday, however, police said the evidence so far compiled was too circumstantial to lay any charges.
One of the main issues is that there is another area employees could have used to access the room where Banfield’s body was eventually found.
Banfield, of Mc Carthy Street, Cantaro Village, Santa Cruz, was last seen leaving her workplace—RBL’s Independence Square branch—around 4 pm last Monday.
In a telephone conversation with her mother Sherry-Ann Lopez around that time, Banfield said she was going to purchase items at the same store (IAM) she was eventually found in.
Banfield’s body was discovered hidden under some boxes in the company’s third floor storeroom around 1.30 pm on Thursday by employees who were searching for the source of a strong decomposing scent which they believe was a dead rat.
Her autopsy stated she had been smothered and police recovered what they believed to be a murder weapon, a bloodied towel, near where she was found.
Banfield was buried on Tuesday following a ceremony at the Seventh Day Adventist Church at Prizgar Road, San Juan.
Police have so far detained and interviewed two suspects in connection with the case —Matthew Maharaj and Dale—but both were subsequently released.
However, Seecharan was subsequently re-arrested in another matter and remained in custody last night.