Before tour guide Leon Baird was found burned to death in a remote section of the Rupununi savannah, his family says he had already been living under threat.
Now, as Police investigate the killing of Baird also known as ‘Rasta’, relatives believe those warnings may hold the key to understanding who wanted him dead and why.
Baird’s sister-in-law, Lerona Andrew, during a telephone interview with the News Room said he had spoken in the past about being threatened by men he encountered while working in the savannah near Wichabai Ranch, where he was employed.
According to her, those confrontations were linked to cattle rustling – a dangerous and illegal trade that has long plagued ranching communities in the region.
“Is not one time they threaten him,” Andrew said. She explained that Baird’s duties often took him deep into isolated areas where he would come across people stealing cattle. “Because he find them rustling, they thieving cows… that is why they threaten him,” Lerona said.
The threats, however, were never formally reported to the Police.
Lerona told the News Room that Baird left the ranch on the morning of Friday, January 23, to go behind cattle and never returned. A worker searching the following day discovered his partially burned remains inside a torched vehicle in the savannah.
For Baird’s eldest brother, Nigel Andrew, the news of his death did not come without a painful sense of recognition.
“It’s a history but not a mystery,” he said, recalling a conversation with his brother months earlier.
The last time they met, around September 2025, Nigel said Leon spoke about ongoing trouble in the area.
“He said there some guys that doing some mischief in this place and he know them because he done jug them and them threaten he.
“He didn’t really say to kill him, but I know… and I ask he who are those and he tell me,” Nigel explained.
Nigel described his brother as someone who knew the land well and was not afraid to challenge wrongdoings.
Police have since confirmed that Baird’s remains were found in a burnt vehicle near Wichabai Ranch along the eastern bank of the Rupununi River. A post-mortem examination determined that he died as a result of burns and was alive before the fire. DNA samples were taken as part of the identification process.
During follow-up investigations in the area, law enforcement officers also found the remains of two cattle believed to have been shot, along with a knife and spent shotgun shells. Those discoveries have strengthened suspicions that Baird may have crossed paths with individuals involved in cattle theft shortly before his death.
Relatives say investigators have informed them that several persons are in custody, including a man who allegedly threatened Baird before he died.
For Nigel, the unanswered questions are heavy.“This ain’t going down the drain like that… I need to know what happen,” he said.
The post ‘A history not a mystery’- Family says Rupununi tour guide faced threats before his death appeared first on News Room Guyana.
