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Mar 18, 2018 Features / Columnists, Murder and Mystery
By Michael Jordan
Burly, soft-spoken, and driving a battered yellow cab, Royston Waldron sure had many of his neighbours in Kitty fooled. Beneath that quiet façade lay a cunning, criminal mind and a smoldering rage that caused him to target women…at least that’s the profile that some investigators had put together of Waldron before two bullets ended his life.
But who was Royston Waldron? Why did this former cop turn to crime? What are the true circumstances of his death? What may have led him to kill or at least cause the ‘disappearance’ of two female acquaintances?
What we know about 42-year-old Waldron is that he joined the Guyana Police Force some time ago and was seconded to various locations. One colleague described him as having “a quiet, shy personality.”
But even back then, former colleagues say, Waldron was displaying criminal tendencies. Eventually, he was kicked out of the Force, and it was apparently then that his criminal activities escalated.
He drove a battered yellow hire car and could be seen with other drivers parked near High Street. One policeman said that Waldron always seemed to be waiting to do ‘special’ work, since he hardly solicited
passengers. It is believed that his specialty was armed robberies, and that he may have used his police connections to stay ahead of the law.
But in June 2008, Waldron was arrested, charged and remanded for harbouring two key members of the Rondell ‘Fine man’ Rawlins gang. He was also charged for armed robbery.
About two years prior to his arrest, Waldron had started a common-law relationship with Patriena Nicholson, a lance corporal in the Guyana Police Force.
Patriena’s sister, Shellon Nicholson described her older sister’s male acquaintance as a ‘cool and quiet’ individual. Following Waldron’s arrest, Patriena was transferred (reportedly for security reasons) from the office of the then-Commissioner of Police, Henry Greene, to the Police Mounted Branch.
While Waldron was in prison, Patriena moved to Lot 44 Austin Street, Campbellville, where her sister, Shellon, also lived. The policewoman struck up an acquaintance with another individual, who was a deportee.
It is alleged that sometime around June 2013, the now-released ex-boyfriend saw Patriena and her new boyfriend walking together. Patriena would later claim that the former boyfriend dragged her into his car. She filed a report at the Kitty Police Station, but reportedly only requested that the man be given a stern warning.
Some investigators believe that around that time, Waldron may have gotten wind of some troubling information that triggered his suspected vendetta against women.
At around two o’clock in the afternoon on Friday August 9, 2013, Lance Corporal Patriena Nicholson, dressed in a brown blouse, blue jeans and black sandals, left her post at the Police Mounted Branch. It is claimed that she told her colleagues that she was going “to wash,” while others claim that she told them she was heading home to drop off a package. Then she disappeared.
Waldron was the first person to inform Patriena’s sister, Shellon, that her sibling appeared to be missing. He is said to have even made a report at the Kitty Police Station.
Shellon Nicholson says that police arrested Waldron, but were forced to release him after 72 hours. He was never rearrested.
SECOND DISAPPEARANCE
It appears that at least around the middle of 2014, Royston Waldron struck up an acquaintance with 34-year-old Nyozi Goodman, a teacher at the prestigious St. Stanislaus College.
On July 6, Waldron reportedly dropped Goodman to the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue, where some of her students were participating in the Inter-Secondary School Basketball Championships.
After the game, Ms. Goodman reportedly told her students that she would be staying behind, as she expected someone to pick her up and take her home at William Street, Campbellville.
Police believe that the ‘someone’ was Royston Waldron.
As was the case with Waldron’s ex-girlfriend, policewoman Patriena Nicholson, Nyozi Goodman vanished.
Detectives who had made the connection between the two missing women questioned Waldron. He reportedly admitted to taking Goodman to the National Gymnasium, but denied returning to pick her up.
In late July, the skeletal remains of a woman were found in a bushy lot at Pattensen, on the East Coast of Demerara. It was established that the victim was about five feet, five inches tall, appeared to be of African ancestry and was between 25 and 40 years old. Dr. Singh also found three incised wounds on the victim, who also had a ‘rotting’ tooth.
These features were disturbingly similar to those of missing teacher Nyozi Goodman. A canvas belt was tied to the dead woman’s right arm, and some of Goodman’s relatives indicated that the belt was hers.
Police took DNA samples from the remains and from Goodman’s closest relatives. They sent the samples to a Trinidad laboratory. Meanwhile, they kept Royston Waldron under surveillance. They were certain that they had enough evidence to link the taxi driver to Goodman’s disappearance. They were reportedly planning to have him arrested and charged once it was confirmed that the Pattensen remains were Goodman’s.
Some detectives felt that Waldron was so certain that he could outsmart his former colleagues, that he would make no attempt to flee his Lot 48, Public Road, Kitty home.
Meanwhile, it is believed that Waldron and some of his acquaintances continued their criminal activities.
From information detectives have gathered, Waldron and two other men robbed a businessman at gunpoint in Georgetown on October 11, 2014. It is believed that on October 22, 2014, Waldron and his gang also robbed a woman at gunpoint in Avenue of the Republic, shortly after the victim had left a commercial bank.
There are reports that some of Waldron’s former colleagues warned him “if you don’t stop, you will die.”
CORNERED AND KILLED
At around 08.00 hrs on Friday, November 14, 2014, Royston Waldron dropped his mother to her workplace. About two hours later, he was dead.
It is believed that Waldron and two gang members had completed “a wuck” and were travelling in Waldron’s car at around 12:15 hrs, when police intercepted them.
The police version of the events is that ranks intercepted Waldron’s car at Alexander and Thomas Streets, Kitty, with the suspect and two men who were wanted for questioning in connection with a number of armed robberies.
Police allege that “gunfire was opened” at the ranks, who returned fire, hitting Waldron. He was taken to the GPHC where he succumbed while receiving medical treatment. The two other men were detained.
According to police, the ranks recovered an unlicenced .32 pistol with four rounds and a spent shell from the slain Waldron. But according to some eyewitnesses, Waldron was driving his yellow cab east along Thomas Street at around 12:00 hrs, when two cars blocked him from the front and rear.
The eyewitness said that men in plainclothes exited the vehicle and ordered the burly Waldron out of his car, while two passengers remained inside.
Waldron reportedly exited with hands upraised and one of the ranks shot him in the chest. Waldron collapsed to the roadway and the ranks shot him again, the eyewitness said. Other reports suggest that the ranks placed Waldron in one of their vehicles and shot him. He was reportedly then taken out of the vehicle and shot again.
The eyewitness alleged that the police ranks began to assault Waldron’s accomplices. They then placed Waldron in his car and attempted to drive away, but the vehicle failed to start.
They then put the motionless man in a police vehicle and left the scene, while Waldron’s taxi was towed away.
Eyewitnesses said they observed the ranks removing a firearm from the shot man’s person. However, they claimed that the suspects never shot at the police.
One of the suspects was said to be a 26-year-old man who claimed to reside in Kitty, while the other was reportedly a 32-year-old Prashad Nagar resident.
But the relatives of Nyozi Goodman and Patriena Nicholson shed no tears for Royston Waldron.
Goodman’s mother, Carol Green, said her initial response to the news was:”thank you, Lord”.
“But then I thought ‘if he is dead, this case is at a standstill’. Whatever he knows is gone with him, because dead men tell no tales.”
“All we can wait for is the DNA results, and if they don’t match, that’s it. Whatever he knows is gone with him, because dead men tell no tales. But I still believe that she is alive.”
Her hopes were later dashed when DNA results from a Trinidadian lab confirmed that the remains were her daughter’s.
Patriena Nicholson’s sister suggested that Waldron’s death was ‘karma.’ “Praise God that my prayers have been answered…only those who have lost a loved one can understand.”
Hopefully, the fate of policewoman Patriena Nicholson will also be known; bringing down the curtain on the saga of two missing women, and their twisted friend, Royston Waldron.
If you have any further information about this case, please contact us at our Lot 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown location, or reach us on telephone numbers 22-58458, 22-58465, 22-58473, or 22-58491.
You can also contact Michael Jordan on his email addresses: [email protected], and [email protected]. You need not disclose your identity
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THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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