FBI to help investigate killings of two U.S. missionaries in Guyana
April 3rd, 2005 by Scott Stadum.
The FBI is sending agents to help investigate the slaying of two American missionaries in a southwest town in Guyana near the border with Brazil, police said Saturday. The seven-member FBI team will arrive Monday to help investigate the slayings of Richard Hicks, 42, and his wife Charlene, 58, said Deputy Police Chief Henry Greene. He said robbery was the likely motive. Greene said “police have encouraging leads,” including at least one suspect. Police in Lethem, the capital of the region where the Hickses were killed, said they had two suspects, but one may have fled across the border to Brazil. One suspect was a former employee of the ranch the Hickses rented, Lethem police said. The Hickses, who translated the Bible into a native language in Guyana, were found dead Thursday at the farm in San Jose district about 12 miles outside Lethem. Police said they were killed Wednesday night. The U.S. Embassy offered assistance Friday in solving their deaths. The cattle and peanut-farming region is about 229 miles southwest of Georgetown, the capital of this South American nation. The couple’s house had been set on fire and Richard Hicks’ body was burnt beyond recognition, police said. His wife was found a few yards away with marks of violence.
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