Murder in Tobago, 2 bodies in burnt house, 2 men shot dead

The body of Dave Vincent lies in a car after he was shot to death in Tobago.
The body of Dave Vincent lies in a car after he was shot to death in Tobago.

With additional reporting by Elizabeth Gonzales

A DAY OF DEATH.

The country’s law enforcement agencies including the police and forensic personnel were kept busy over the past 24 hours, between Monday night and yesterday, investigating the murders of five people who were killed in four unrelated incidents.

The cases involve those of a man who was shot to death in a car in Tobago; two bodies bearing marks of violence which were found amid the rubble of a house that was burnt down; a man being shot dead near the entrance to the Beetham landfill and another who shot dead near his St Joseph home. Up to press time, the murder toll stood at 410.

SHOT NEAR HOME

The first incident in this five-murder spree took place at 9 pm on Monday, when Kern Kendall Exeter was shot near his North Street, St Joseph home. Police said a report was made to the St Joseph Police Station after gunshots were heard.

When police arrived, they found Exeter’s body outside his home.

Police said they received information that a man alighted from a vehicle, shot Exeter and then got back into the car which sped off. At the Forensic Science Centre in St James, Exeter’s relatives yesterday described him as a quiet person who would only retaliate if he was provoked.

SHOT: Kern Kendall Exeter, shot dead outside his St Joseph house on Monday night.

Relatives said he had just walked out of the house with the intention of going to Curepe to purchase food when he was gunned down. His mother, who asked not to be named, said she felt a chill when she got the news that her son was dead. “This is painful, to have to bury your own child,” she said. “I do not care who did this...I leave them to the Lord.”

Relatives said he was out on bail on a charge of attempted murder. Police refused to say if his murder was linked to the charge he faced in the courts.

BODIES IN HOUSE

An hour later, at 10 pm, firemen were called to the scene of a blaze which gutted a two-storey house at Wellington Street in Maracas/St Joseph. Sources said that after the fire was doused, firemen discovered two bodies in the house.

Police who were already at the scene noted marks of violence on the bodies of Peter Felix, 88, and Kris Brewster, a 30-year-old woman originally from the Dominican Republic.

BURNT DOWN: The house in Maracas/St Joseph where two bodies were found on Monday night.

Police said they noted a large gash across Brewster’s throat. The cause of the fire is still unknown. The bodies were removed to the Forensic Science Centre for autopsies. Residents said when Felix retired from his job at Massy Stores he worked as a taxi driver. Neighbours described him as a quiet person who allowed a religious group the use of the ground floor of his property to conduct their church service.

Neighbours added that Brewster recently began renting a room from Felix but not much else was known about her.

TRAFFIC DUE TO MURDER

The third incident led to thousands of people, including school children, being trapped in miles of traffic early yesterday morning. Police said that at 3 am, gunshots were heard in the Beetham Gardens and a man was seen running across the Beetham Highway in the direction of the landfill.

At 6 am, the man’s body was found near the entrance to the landfill. As police cordoned off the scene, drivers slowed their vehicles almost to a halt to gawk at what was taking place. Police also reportedly had to block off sections of the highway to allow for crime scene officers to process the scene, photograph the body and search for clues including spent bullet shells.

This murder, plus an accident in the Orange Grove area, led to traffic piling up along the west-bound lane of the Churchill Roosevelt and Beetham Highways, with many motorists calling Newsday to complain about being stuck in this traffic, some for upwards of three hours. Many took to social media to complain.

By 7.30 am, according to social media reports, traffic had piled up along the east-bound lane of the highway as far east as Trincity.

Half an hour later, according to motorists and commuters who wrote on their social media accounts via phones and tablets, the traffic pile-up had extended further east to O’Meara in Arima.

Many schoolchildren arrived late to school, while other people reached late for work and still others abandoned their attempts to reach their destination and went back home.

The body, which up to press time was unidentified, was removed to the Forensic Science Centre.

9th TOBAGO MURDER

Dave Vincent, 56, of San Fernando, who was wanted in connection with a murder, was himself murdered yesterday. Police said that Vincent’s body was found slumped in a car near Buccoo New Road. According to reports, at about midday, police received a report of a shooting at Golden Grove Road/Buccoo New Road.

MURDERED: Dave Vincent.

Vincent was found in a white Nissan B14 car. He was shot several times. Newsday was told Vincent lived at Bamboo Hill in Les Coteaux after moving from San Fernando to the sister isle earlier this year. Vincent was wanted for the murder of Sherrin Alleyne of Pointe a Pierre who was killed in 2014.

Alleyne went missing on June 8, 2014 and his burnt body was discovered two days later at a dump site along Cedar Hill Road in Tortuga. His relatives identified him via dental records. Alleyne was said to be the nephew of a high-ranking policeman.

Bethany Thatcher, 28, of Penal Rock Road, Penal; Gloria Chin, 27, of Hackette Extension Road, Navet Village and Kamal Khan, 26, of Solidad Road, Claxton Bay, have all been charged for Alleyne’s murder and the case remains pending in the courts.

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