Landlord found dead in Cunupia, man gunned down in Barataria

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TWO men have died in separate incidents as a moneylender and landlord was found with a belt tied around his neck on the morning of September 8 in Cunupia, and another man was gunned down near his home on the evening of September 8 in Barataria.

In the first incident, police said around 9.55 am on September 8 they were informed of a suspected homicide at the corner of Marshall Trace and Marshall Trace Extension, Cunupia.

They arrived at 10.28 am and met the person who found the body.

The man said around 10 am he checked for Richard Le Gere, 64, and saw the front door of his apartment open. He went inside and found Le Gere lying on the floor of a bedroom.

He had a black belt tied around his neck.

Police said the bedroom had been ransacked. Jewellery (whose value is yet to be calculated) was missing and $40,000 was gone from under the mattress.

Earlier police enquiries revealed the man who found Le Gere's body last saw him around 11 pm on September 7 with two Venezuelans.

The man said one of the Venezuelans also lives in the building, which belonged to Le Gere, but did not know the other person. Police looked for the Venezuelans at the apartment, but did not find them. They noticed clothes were missing from the Venezuelan's apartment.

CSI processed the scene for fingerprints but did not find any.

Police said the probable cause was robbery and investigations are continuing.

In a phone call on September 9, a relative described Le Gere to Newsday as a very nice person.

Eleven hours later, Makin Harris, 41, was gunned down outside his home at 7th Street and 8th Avenue, Barataria on September 8.

Police enquiries revealed around 8 pm Harris was washing his silver Nissan Tiida when he received a phone call. He walked into the road and several gunshots were heard.

Police said a mobile patrol unit heard the gunshots around 8.20 pm and checked along 7th Street and 9th Avenue.

They saw a blue Sylphy speeding toward them and chased it but did not succeed in intercepting it.

While they were checking 7th Street, a man stopped them and told them about Harris's body. They found Harris in a drain with a multiple gunshot wounds to his head.

The Special Evidence Recovery Unit found three 9mm spent shells with the markings "9mm LUGER" and one 9mm spent shell with the marking "9mm TECH."

Police believe Harris's killing was drug-related and investigations are ongoing.