Sister sent WhatsApp message to murdered man

Minutes after he was shot dead at the Tunapuna apartment complex he managed, the sister of Kenneth Maitlland unknowingly sent him a WhatsApp message complaining of how violent the world had become.

Maitlland, 64, was shot dead while sitting near the gate of the complex at the corner of Ali and Cemetery streets at around 7.15 pm on Wednesday.

Newsday spoke to relatives at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, on Thursday who described him as a friendly man who often went out of his way to help others.

One sister lamented the irony of his death as he recently changed his WhatsApp status to the phrase "No time to die", in a theme of an upcoming James Bond movie of the same name.

"I remember he changed his WhatsApp status to that and I sent him a video on the death of this Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. I told him that I didn't like how violent and gangster-like the whole world was getting. The US killed this general in the same way my brother (Maitlland) was killed, they shot him and just moved on.

"When I sent him these messages I didn't even know he was already dead. I just couldn't believe it." Asked what they felt could be done to reduce crime in TT, one sister lamented how materialistic and selfish people in the country had become and urged them to rediscover their spirituality and build a better relationship with God.

The sisters said they do not know why anyone would want to murder their brother and could not confirm whether his home was firebombed weeks earlier. Relatives said while Maitlland was Trinidadian, he rented to Cuban tenants. Maitlland died of a single gunshot wound to the right side of his back.