9 murders in 4 days
By RYAN HAMILTON-DAVIS and RICHARDSON DHALAI Tuesday, June 16 2015 (T&T Newsday)
CRIME SCENE: Officers gather near the body of Shane Patino, one of nine persons killed in eight unrelated incidents within a four-day period starting from Friday last and ending yesterday.
Patino was shot dead in Arima. Author: ROGER JACOBNINE bodies were kept on ice at the Forensic Science Centre (FSC) in St James awaiting autopsies yesterday after a particularly bloody weekend which saw the country’s murder rate leap from 172 to 181.
The killings, which included the slaying of a man and his teenaged son as they slept in bed, have left the victims’ relatives and friends in a state of shock and bewilderment and the police searching high and low for the killers.
Murder at tyre shopThe bloodbath began on Friday at about one o’clock in the afternoon when Shastri Dean, 22, the manager of a tyre shop was attacked and shot from behind as he spoke to a customer at the businessplace.
The gunman shot Dean in the leg first and as he fell to the ground, he was shot several times in the back by the gunman who stood over him and fired repeatedly. The killer escaped while other persons rushed Dean to the Eric Williams Medical Science Complex (EWMSC) in Mt Home where he was pronounced dead. The customer who Dean was speaking to, escaped unharmed.
At the FSC yesterday, relatives told Newsday of the shock they felt when they heard of his murder. They described him as a responsible young man. “He hardly used to lime and drink,” said relative Shawn Dean. “He only liked to go to car shows and when he went it would be with his brothers and his sister.”
Killed for fighting backA little over an hour after Dean’s murder was committed, 18-year-old Shmeichel Bynoe was shot dead. Newsday understands bandits attempted to rob the young man of his jewelry and personal valuables near his home on Private Lane, Laventille and when he had the temerity to fight back, he was shot and killed. The murder took place at 1.15 pm.
Wendy Ann Campbell, the mother of the slain teen yesterday said her only son was her joy.
“He loved music, he loved to make people laugh. He was a happy child...my joy. They took away my joy,” Campbell sobbed.
She added that her son worked with his stepfather doing construction work and had aspired to elevate himself and his family to move out of Laventille.
Murdered on his birthdayOn Saturday at 1.30 am, Nicholas Mohammed of Havelock Street, Curepe was fatally shot as he celebrated his 36th birthday with friends at the Spotlight Bar in Curepe. It was reported that Mohammed was liming with a group of friends when two men, one armed with a gun, walked up and opened fire. The assailants then ran to a car which was parked nearby, got in and drove off.
Mohammed was rushed to the EWMSC where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Three of his friends - Darren Ali, 37, of Rapsey Street, Curepe; Mario Gardiner, 42, of St Ann’s Road, St Ann’s and Shernel Villanna, 35, of Jubilee Street, Tunapuna were also shot and taken to the EWMSC where they were treated and discharged. No arrests have been made.
Killed at ChristeningAt 9.45 am on Saturday, Nigel Maloney, 37, was killed during a christening in Sangre Grande. Relatives yesterday told Newsday Maloney had confided to them that he had received death threats. On Saturday, the threat was carried out as he was shot dead by a gunman outside the house where the festivity was taking place.
“He worked hard to take care of his family. Now he did tell me he get some threats before, to be honest. But he never told me who had been threatening him. Some people said there were men who had it out for him. I don’t even know what for,” said the mother of Maloney who asked not to be identified.
‘Cooler Red’ gunned downLater, at 11.05 am on Saturday, a murder took place in Diego Martin. Police said Ronald “Cooler Red” Marcano, 29, of River Estate Diego Martin was at Upper Bournes Road assisting his friend Derrick Wilson with moving some household appliances from a house to a van.
As he stood at the side of the road after helping with the moving, Marcano, who was a self employed technician, was approached by a man who without warning, pulled out a gun from his pants pocket and shot him several times before running off. Marcano was pronounced dead at the scene. No motive was established for this murder.
Father, son shot deadAlso on Saturday, a quiet village in the Heights of Guanapo was thrown into shock and sadness when Dominic Robinson, 37, and his son Wendell, 15, were found dead — their bodies riddled with bullets inside the elder Robinson’s house.
The bodies were discovered shortly after midday when a group of persons on their way to work at a nearby quarry, decided to stop at Robinson’s home to say hello. They met the door open and on checking found the bodies of father and son. Police believe the man and his son were shot to death sometime during Saturday morning as they slept.
Yesterday at the FSC, Robinson’s ex-wife and Wendell’s mother Camille Woodley told Newsday the two were inseparable. “When I say father and son I mean father and son. They were very close,” she said. She added that since her son and ex-husband’s deaths, the entire family was left shocked and dazed.
“Words cannot explain how we feel. We feel lost. We are at a loss for words. We are in shock,” Woodley said.
Bullet to the headOn Sunday, Shane Patino, 28, was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head. According to reports, at about 8 pm, officers of the Arima Police Station responded to reports of gunshots being heard at the corner Boodoo Avenue and the Eastern Main Road.
A party of police officers led by Inspector Ali and Sgt Rene Katwaroo went to the area and found Patino’s body on the road with a gunshot wound to his head. Relatives who gathered outside the FSC yesterday, were reluctant to talk to reporters.
Robbery ends in murderThe ninth and final murder, involved that of a 45-year-old Barrackpore man was shot dead in a robbery at his home during the early morning hours yesterday. According to reports, at about 2.30 am, two masked bandits forced their way into the home of Ramcharan Maharaj at Cunjal Road, Barrackpore and tied up his wife and son in two separate rooms while Maharaj’s arms and legs were tied with tie straps at the front room of the house.
The bandits ransacked the house as they searched for cash and jewelry. The bandits then shot Maharaj once in his head, killing him almost instantly before loading up Maharaj’s silver- coloured Toyota Axio car with two television sets, a DVD player and clothes. The killers escaped in the car.
When Newsday visited the scene yesterday evening, Maharaj’s grief stricken relatives and friends were huddled under a tent which was set up in a neighbours yard directly opposite Maharaj’s home.
His son Gabriel, 17, a Lower Sixth Form student at Naparima College, San Fernando recounted the ordeal saying one of the bandits had entered his room and tied up his hands and feet before ransacking his room.
He said the man then left the room and while he was attempting to free himself, he heard a gunshot from another room in the house. Gabriel said he managed to free himself and went into another room where he discovered his mother Ameena, stilll secured with tie straps. They then discovered Maharaj’s body. A report was made to the police.
Newsday was told that the victim’s brother is a police constable based at the Mon Repos Police Station. Investigations are continuing.
