By Rabindra Rooplall
THIRTEEN years of marriage ended in bloodshed Wednesday night after Candacy Pitt, called “Cindy,” was hacked to death by her husband Athlone Pitt while she was at work as a security guard at Bygeval Secondary School.The 31-year-old woman, who had no children, was on duty at the school located behind her Chelsea Park, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara residence.

The depressed mother Evonne Andrews

According to a police report, she worked as a security guard at the school and was attacked about 21:45hrs by her husband at her workplace where she was dealt multiple chops about her body.

However,the police noted that he first attacked and chopped her cousin, security guard Brenda Thomas, 51, of Chelsea Park who had denied him entry into the compound to see his wife. Mrs. Pitt and her cousin Thomas were both on duty at the time of the attack.

They were rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where Mrs. Pitt was pronounced dead on arrival, while Brenda Thomas was admitted. The husband, Athlone Pitt surrendered to the police and confessed to the crime. He is currently in police custody assisting with the investigation.

The dead woman’s mother Evonne Andrews said her daughter began working almost two months ago at the school as a security guard. She explained that her daughter who lived in a neighbouring building would spend most of the time with the family.

“Her husband was a lazy drunkard who hardly worked, he was a driver. I can’t remember the last time when he worked, he would normally be drinking all over the place and would threaten her whenever she is over here,” Mrs. Andrews, a mother of three, said.

However,the couple never sought counselling, Mrs. Andrews said, but her daughter would attend church and hope for the best.

The tearful mother said she is seeking justice from the police and the courts, since such an act is barbaric, considering that the family was kind and decent towards him.

“How do you describe a person who you fetch food from your parents’ house to give, they give you land to build a house, you treat him like a son, how do you describe a person like that when they turn around and kill your child. There are no words to express it,” a cousin of the deceased, Mrs. Pitt Shaundelle Singh said sadly.

“He getting free everything, free water, free current, he getting from what ‘Cindy’ father and mother working for, the man is a waste.”

The cousin further said that on each occasion that “Cindy” gets a cellphone her husband smashed it up out of a jealous rage. She can’t even communicate with her family on Facebook. “He always threatening she with a gun, we don’t know if it’s real or toy, he always threatening her to kill her or her family.”

Singh explained that the security guard Brenda Thomas who was chopped had spoken to Mr. Pitt about his unwarranted attack and behaviour when dealing with his wife. “I talk to him too, I told him off and I hear he say he would have killed me. He was a two-faced person, he pretending in front of his wife and behind her back he always talk foolishness.”

She said that Mr. Pitt always was a jealous and insecure man because his wife was beautiful and simple.

“The man is so stupid, if she wanted to leave she could have, because she had no children to remain in the relationship for any reason, and she could have packed and move because in 13 years they had no children,” she emphasised.

The cousin added that she took Mrs. Pitt to the hospital to inquire about pregnancy options but it was never followed up because it appeared as if the husband was the problem. “I use to tell her she is getting old and it would be nice to have a child, he always drinking and damaging himself and doing everything to make the woman life hell.”

She disclosed that Mr. Pitt six months ago did a surgery for hernia and his wife and relatives aided and assisted all they could during the process.
“How can he turn around and chop a woman who loved him so much,” Mrs. Singh questioned. “He had to plan what he would have done because he didn’t kill her when she was home, because he knew people would have dealt with him severely so he did it when she was at work.”
She said after committing the act, Mr. Pitt had pulled a hoodie over his head and quickly jumped on a bicycle and made his way to the police station before residents and relatives caught him. “If he had walked, he wouldn’t have reach the police station alive…He does threaten to kill her mother and people in the family; that is why she does go home back with he, and try to be nice to him. But now, look what happened.”
The dead woman’s sister, Isabelle Andrews, said every night for the past two weeks she saw Mr. Pitt walking with a cutlass in his hand going at the school compound threatening his wife and terrorising her outside the school compound.

“He had said he would have killed my father and mother and the entire family. He treated her very bad and this is the result – he even assaulted her at a wedding one night because she dance with a relative,” she said.

According to relatives, “Cindy” was always jovial and smiling and never showed anyone a bad face, although she was in an abusive relationship.