'The killer is still out there'

Each day the family of murdered Siparia gardener Angela Elizabeth McKenzie thinks of her, never knowing when or where her killer would strike next.

"We always think about her every day," said one of her daughters, Donna. "The killer is still out there, so we cannot take our minds off it as yet. We really hope that the killer is arrested and charged. The police are still searching, and we just cannot stop thinking about our mother."

The mother of five died on January 30 after being brutally chopped in the front yard of her home in a forested area off Quinam Road in Siparia, where she lived alone. Her neck was almost severed, and she had wounds to the neck, shoulders and hands.

She would have been 64 on July 6.

Initially, it was believed that the killer is a man whom Mc Kenzie caught red-handed digging yams from her garden about two weeks earlier. He is believed to have mental problems.

Donna said: "We understand that police had questioned him, but later let him go without charges. Police took blood samples from the scene and sent them abroad for testing.

"We want justice. The (La Divina Pastora RC) church always remember her in prayers."

At her funeral, days after the killing, the present and former parish priests reminisced about the generosity of McKenzie, a devout Catholic. Fr Alan Hall said he felt privileged to have known Mc Kenzie, whom he fondly called Elizabeth. He told mourners that she lived like a queen on earth and the church had lost a wonderful parishioner. Vicar General and former parish priest the Siparia church Fr Martin Sirju also spoke highly of McKenzie’s generosity, strong faith and love for people.

Police from Siparia CID and Homicide Bureau Region III are investigating.