Murdered ganja grower's sister: 'He cried out for help'

The relatives of 47-year-old Richard Paponette, whose decomposing body was found in the Cumaca Forest, Valencia, admitted he was involved in planting marijuana, but said he did not deserve to be murdered.

Newsday spoke to Paponette's older sister at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, this morning. She said she last saw her brother on Thursday, when he told her he was going into the forest to tend to his crops.

She said her brother lived off the land and would spend months at a time in the forest without human contact, so his disappearance did not come as a surprise.

"I won't lie to you," she said. "He used to plant his weed in the forest there, but he never sold any of it. Whatever he grew was for his own personal use.

"I feel that the others who grew their weed in that forest killed him out of envy. My brother didn't deserve to die like this."

Paponette's cousin Devon Paponette founds his body on Sunday morning when he went into the forest to catch crabs. Richard Paponette's left hand appeared to have been partially severed and some fingers on his right hand were missing.

An autosy showed Paponette died from a chop wound to the back of his head. He had also been shot.

Paponette's sister said she believed her brother cried out for mercy from his killers during his last moments, but despite the brutal nature of his killing, she forgave them.

"He is already dead. There's nothing we can do about it now. We as a family pray so much that we even forgive his killers right now. But I just know that my brother would have cried out for us (his family) to help him."

The elder Paponette is calling for a thorough sweep of the forest, as she believes her brother's killers also have marijuana crops hidden in the bush.