A 49-year-old man from Develdt, Berbice River, has confessed to killing his friend, 68-year-old Cledwin Gordon, known as ‘Smokey,’ during a drunken argument last Friday night.
During a detailed interrogation on Monday, October 13, the suspect, Ethilbert Sauers, told detectives that he and Gordon had been drinking high wine when a quarrel erupted over alcohol left in a boat.
In a fit of anger, Sauers said he “broadsided” Gordon with a cutlass, causing a neck injury, but later took him to his sister’s home.
Later that afternoon, while the two were preparing to go fishing, another argument flared up. Sauers admitted to striking Gordon again with the same cutlass, causing him to fall unconscious and appear lifeless.
He said he then paddled a short distance upriver and dumped Gordon’s body into the Berbice River before returning to the village and washing blood from his boat.
Police have since confirmed that the cutlass believed to be the murder weapon has been seized.
Gordon’s partially decomposed body was discovered floating in the Berbice River last Sunday morning, two days after he was last seen alive. The gruesome discovery was made by his son, 46-year-old farmer Wolton Lapps, near Develdt Village.
According to information reaching the News Room, Sauers and Gordon had gone fishing around 20:00 hrs on Friday, October 10, 2025, when the fatal confrontation occurred.
A boat captain from the village, Laxley Linsey, told investigators that Gordon’s sister, Elvey Marshall, had reported him missing after learning that a misunderstanding had occurred between the two men, during which Sauers allegedly assaulted Gordon, causing him to jump into the river and disappear.
Marshall’s grandnephew, Samuel Sue, also told detectives that earlier that day, he witnessed Sauers beating Gordon with a cutlass on the riverbank, injuring him in the chest. Sue said he managed to intervene and take the weapon away but later heard Gordon was missing.
Initially, when questioned by police, Sauers denied any involvement, claiming that Gordon had gone with him to a shop and later jumped into the river on his own, saying he would be picked up the following morning.
Following the recovery of Gordon’s body, police observed multiple injuries, including wounds to the neck and chest. Though the initial suspicion was that some wounds might have been caused by aquatic animals due to decomposition, a post-mortem examination by Government Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh confirmed that Gordon died from an incised wound to the neck and was already dead before entering the water.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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