A post-mortem conducted on the body of Tony Sulker on Monday revealed the cause of death as pesticide poison.
Sulker was the close associate and prime suspect in the murder of attorney Richard Layne.
According to police reports, Sulker was living with Layne at the time of his death. On August 8, Sulker provided a detailed account to detectives regarding the events leading up to Layne’s demise.
Sulker, who had been residing with Layne for approximately four years, claimed their relationship was platonic. He stated that on the evening of August 7, Layne’s cousin, Michael Harding, visited the residence before leaving with Layne. Sulker said he went to bed around 20:00 hrs but awoke later to find Layne’s car on a nearby bridge and the attorney slumped in the driver’s seat.
Sulker had told detectives that he called Layne’s mother, Penelope Lewis, and picked her up from a local bar. Upon their return, they found Layne’s car doors locked. Following Lewis’ instructions, Sulker broke the driver’s side window to discover Layne with an apparent neck wound. An autopsy has since determined that Layne died from a single stab wound to the neck.
However, new developments emerged from the investigation on Friday. Detectives reviewing CCTV footage from Sheriff Street made new findings. At approximately 21:31 hrs, a vehicle matching Layne’s burgundy Jaguar, license plate PYY 2850, was seen stopping near Kamboat Chinese Restaurant.
The footage captured an individual, believed to be Sulker, exiting the car and entering the restaurant before returning with a white plastic bag.
Further footage shows the Jaguar continuing its route, turning onto John Street and Mandela Avenue, before ultimately heading towards D’Urban Backlands.
The clothing Sulker wore that night, as seen in the CCTV footage, was found washed and dried in the house’s washing machine. Other clothing items were collected for forensic analysis.
However, at around 01:00 hrs on August 9, Lewis reported witnessing Sulker’s car arriving rapidly at Layne’s residence, where she discovered Sulker lying near the door in a distressed state. Sulker, covered in what appeared to be vomit and a green substance, was rushed to Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where he died.
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