GRANNY CHOPPED TO DEATH

FARMER and grandmother of seven Angela Mc Kenzie, 64, confronted a man a few weeks ago when she caught him red-handed digging yams in her garden. Afterwards, the man, who is believed to have mental problems, began walking near Mc Kenzie’s home brandishing a cutlass. Her relatives believe he chopped and killed her because of that confrontation.

The mother of five, fondly called Beth, lived alone in a forested area off Quinam Road in Siparia. Her body was found on Wednesday afternoon in her front yard near the driveway with chop wounds to the neck, shoulders and hands. Her neck was almost severed.

A cutlass smeared with blood was found in the toilet. There were bloodstains in the house and relatives believe she fought with her killer who might have been injured during the brutal attack. A villager who went to visit Mc Kenzie made the discovery at about 5 pm. The nearest neighbour lives about a quarter of a mile away.

Mc Kenzie, the great-grandmother of two, would have turned 65 in July. She planted crops such as peewah, cocoa, citrus fruit and yams and sold her produce to market vendors in Siparia.

Mc Kenzie’s daughter Donna Mc Kenzie said she last spoke to her mother about 6 am on Wednesday about the “thief” who kept stealing crops. Donna, who lives in Chaguanas, believes the killer jumped over the wire fence and attacked her mother inside the house. She had no enemies, Donna told Newsday.

Wiping away tears, Donna said, “My mother did not give me the name, but she said she had reported it to police. It is very hurtful. It is very sad to lose a mother. It was only him walking up and down with a cutlass.” Donna, like other relatives, said they believed there was a struggle in the house and her mother ran outside, where the killer overpowered and dealt her the fatal blow.

“I never thought our mother would have gone like this. She was a friendly person who loved to go to church. She was strong in the Catholic faith and attended church regularly. It seems she was about to cook something with carrots. She did not finish cutting them up. We know she fought back.”

One of Mc Kenzie’s sons-in-law, Cyril Parris, said the only item missing from the house was a cell phone. Parris said: “This was not someone who came to rob her. The money in a jar on the table is still there. He did not take it. On Monday, she got a phone, and I think the killer took it. Maybe she was trying to call for help.

“I know she would have fought him. No one saw the killer.” Homicide Bureau Region III and South Western Division police visited the area and searched for the killer. Crime scene investigators returned yesterday and searched for evidence. Police have not arrested anyone for the murder. An autopsy is expected to be done today at the Forensic Sciences Centre, St James.