[UPDATED] Man on the run after going berserk – 2 DEAD, 2 HURT IN CHOPPING

Police officers interview Myna Jagroop at her home on Monday after a relative killed two and wounded two during a chopping rampage on Sunday night. PHOTO BY MARVIN HAMILTON -
Police officers interview Myna Jagroop at her home on Monday after a relative killed two and wounded two during a chopping rampage on Sunday night. PHOTO BY MARVIN HAMILTON -

A 33-YEAR-OLD man was on the run on Monday after going berserk at his New Grant home on Sunday night, chopping to death two close relatives – one a man and the other a woman – and attacking two other relatives both of whom are now in hospital in critical condition.

"I just don't know nah," was how 71-year-old Myna Jagroop reacted while being interviewed by Newsday outside her home hours after the horrific attack which saw her daughter Monica, 35, and son-in-law Anterro McQueen, 52, being chopped to death.

Jagroop's husband and Monica's father Manickchand, 72, as well as another daughter Indra, 42, (Mc Queen's wife) were also chopped and are now fighting for their lives at hospital. Police said Indra’s left hand was chopped off.

Eyewitnesses claimed the killer did not say anything while he was chopping his victims.

While police are saying the murderous attack stemmed from an ongoing land dispute, one relative of the victims claimed the suspect went crazy after attending prayers in which an animal was sacrificed as part of several rituals.

KILLED: Anterro McQueen who was chopped to death. -

Jagroop said that at around 10.30 pm on Sunday, she heard relatives talking downstairs the house. Jagroop said she and her husband live upstairs the wooden house while their daughter Indra, her husband McQueen and their two children, 15 and eight, live downstairs.

She said that Indra and her family had just returned home after attending a birthday party for McQueen’s mother in Cocoyea Village, San Fernando. Jagroop said that while lying down in bed, she heard Indra cry out.

When she went downstairs, Jagroop said she saw McQueen sitting on a bench leaning against a car near the front door. She thought he was drunk and was leaning on the car for support.

Jagroop said Indra blurted out that the relative (name called) had just chopped her and McQueen. Jagroop said that at the time, the suspect was silently standing nearby. There were blood stains on the car and ground.

Jagroop said her husband came outside to see what was taking place and was attacked and chopped by the suspect. Jagroop's other daughter Monica, a single mother of two, lived across the road with her children, 15 and 13. The suspect lives a stone’s throw away.

Jagroop said that after her husband collapsed, the suspect ran across the road, entered Monica's house and chopped her to death. He then ran off into the night.

"I do not know how many chops my husband get. My daughter’s (Indra) hand was cut off by the wrist,” Jagroop said.

She confirmed that relatives have been bickering over land but believes the suspect was drunk at the time and could not control himself.

MURDERED: Monica Ramroop, chopped to death in her home. -

“He gets violent whenever he drinks. Sometimes he is so nice you would not believe is the same person after he has a few (drinks),” Jagroop said.

“I do not think the land caused this. He just started behaving wild. I did not see him after he went across the road and I do not want to see him anymore. He has put me through too much stress.”

While Jagroop believes alcohol contributed to the deadly attack, her son Ricky, 38, said he has another theory as to why the relative went on the murderous rampage. He said the suspect attended two prayers, one on September 6 and the other, last Saturday .

Saturday, he said, marked six months since his brother Ramesh Maharaj died of a heart attack. Ricky said as Hindus, the family was not supposed to be having any prayers for a year after the death of a relative.

“After the first prayer, everything just went crazy. There were constant problems and relatives were fighting one another. Before that, everyone was good and normal,” Ricky said.

The person who held the prayers also sacrificed a goat, he claimed. The person also conducted certain rituals during the night which Ricky said had left him and other members of the family very uncomfortable.

CRITICAL: Indra Ramroop whose left hand was chopped off. -

“It seems the prayers went wrong, and it did not work out as it supposed to. My father (Manickchand) suffered a stroke in 2018 and another in 2019. She (a sister) said they were doing these prayers for him,” Ricky said.

“This incident was not really over land, it was because of these prayers,” Ricky said adding that the suspect was not "all that violent.”

“If he sees something wrong, he would say. He is straightforward. He speaks hard and curses loud but to reach this level...that is not him,” Ricky said, adding that the suspect himself was very much against the holding of the prayers.

“He was jumping really high and swinging the blade (cutlass). It was not normal behaviour,” Ricky said.

Police said that investigations pointed towards a feud among members of the Jagroop family over land. Sources said Monica Jagroop and McQueen both died at the scene on Sunday while Manickchand and his daughter Indra remain warded at San Fernando General Hospital.

CRITICAL: Pensioner
Manickchand Ramroop. -

Police said the suspect is a father of three who lives by himself after separating from his wife earlier this year. Up to press time, police were still searching for him. The bodies of Monica and McQueen have been taken to the Forensic Sciences Centre in St James for autopsies and investigations are ongoing.

This story was originally published with the title "Two dead, two injured in Princes Town family dispute" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

A family dispute at New Grant, on the outskirts of Princes Town, ended in the chopping death of two relatives on Sunday night.

Dead are Anterro Mc Queen, 52, and his sister-in-law Monica Jagroop, 35, of Farmers Trace.

Jagroop's father Manickch and Jagroop, 72, and Mc Queen's wife Indra Jagroop were injured in the attack.

Police said both survivors were chopped multiple times and Indra Jagroop's hands were severed. They were taken to the Princes Town District Health Facility, then transferred to the San Fernando General Hospital.

The suspect, a close male relative, is on the run from the police.

The motive for the double homicide is believed to be an ongoing land dispute.

Police from Princes Town and Homicide Bureau Region III are investigating.

This is a developing story.

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"[UPDATED] Man on the run after going berserk – 2 DEAD, 2 HURT IN CHOPPING"

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