Brother, sister chopped to death

A BROTHER and his sister were found chopped to death at their Chinapoo Village, Morvant home yesterday afternoon. The victims have been identified as 78-year-old Victor Hutchinson and sister Claudette Cassell, 81.

According to sources, a tenant who lives on the ground floor apartment of Cassell’s two-storey Mc Donald Trace home, heard a commotion just before 2 pm.

He later called out to the siblings but got no response.

The tenant then went to the Morvant police station and alerted them of the situation and when they returned to the house, they found Hutchinson and Cassell dead.

Both had been chopped multiple times. Relatives were too distraught to speak but neighbours told Newsday that Hutchinson lived at a house across the street from Cassell, but after fire damaged it recently, he began staying at his sister’s house.

Neighbours also said bandits broke into Hutchinson’s house after it was damaged by the fire. Police said the double murder appeared to be the end result of a home invasion and robbery as Cassell’s valuables were missing.

While relatives sat nearby consoling each other as the police processed the scene, neighbours spoke freely of the spiralling crime situation.

A neighbour said that Hutchinson was an active person who would regularly exercise along the road in the village.

“This morning I was looking out for him, because I would regularly see him up and down the road exercising,” said the neighbour.

“He would always greet people whom he met with a ‘good morning’ or ‘good night’,” the man said.

Newsday was told that Hutchinson, aka “Scrubs” was employed with Amoco before he retired while his sister was a housewife. Autopsies are expected to be done today at the Forensic Science Centre in St James. No arrests have been made and investigations are ongoing.