Prosecutors in the Vindra Naipaul-Coolman murder trial have abruptly stopped the testimony of its main witness and have embarked on a route to have his statement admitted. Lead prosecutor Israel Khan, SC, decided on the move yesterday after he failed in a second attempt to convince Keon Gloster to shift from his unwillingness to testify when the trial resumed on Monday. “I never give the police a statement. I swear to God I never sign them things,” Gloster told the 12-member jury in response to Khan’s questions on the statement on Monday. 

Khan yesterday shifted his strategy and opted to recall the police officer, who interviewed Gloster in 2007, to certify his witness statements. Insp Suzette Martin, who testified late last year, reiterated her previous evidence as she stated that she interviewed Gloster several times over a two-month period that year. As she sought to dispel his claims that he did not sign the written statement or provide the information contained in it, Martin pointed to several corrections she made while writing it, which she said were initialled by Gloster. 

Khan is also expected call Justice of Peace Anthony Soulette, who was asked to be present during the interview to seek Gloster’s interest as he (Gloster) was a minor at the time. Naipaul-Coolman, the former chief executive of her family’s supermarket chain Xtra Foods, was abducted from her home at Lange Park, Chaguanas, on December 19, 2006. A $122,000 ransom was paid by her family but she was not released and her body has never been found by police. 

Prosecutors are contending that she was held captive in a house in Upper La Puerta, Diego Martin, shared by three of the accused and frequented by the rest, before she was eventually killed, dismembered and her body disposed of. The trial resumes before Justice Malcolm Holdip, continues this morning.

Who’s in court
The 12 men before the jury and Justice Malcolm Holdip are Allan “Scanny” Martin, twin brothers Shervon and Devon Peters and their older brother Anthony Dwayne Gloster, siblings Keida and Jamille Garcia, brothers Marlon and Earl Trimmingham, Ronald Armstrong, Antonio Charles, Joel Fraser and Lyndon James. A 13th man, Raphael Williams, was charged with the crime but died in prison in 2011.

Coast Guard officers yesterday arrested three men and seized a quantity of marijuana after a high speed boat chase off Icacos, Cedros. The men, together with 65 packages of marijuana weighing 35.54 kilos with an estimated street value of $360,000, were handed over to officers of the Organised Crime Narcotics and Firearms Bureau (OCNFB), Customs and Excise Division. A Glock pistol with 16 rounds of 9mm ammunition and $2,000 Bolivares (Venezuelan currency) were also seized by the Coast Guard and handed over to police.

In a release yesterday, T&T Coast Guard Public Affairs Officer Lt Commander Kirk Jean-Baptiste said around 3.36am while on routine patrol on the southern coast, Coast Guard officers pursued a white pirogue, TFN 524 and named ‘SACHA,’ after its crewmen ignored their ‘stop and prepare to be boarded announcement.’ The vessel, with the three men on board, was intercepted after a short chase. 

The crew was detained and taken to Staubles Bay, Chaguaramas, before being handed over to police.

It was déjà vu for Charmaine Blackman after her second son named Michael Brown was killed in the east Port-of-Spain area by gunmen. Speaking with the media at the Forensic Science Centre St James yesterday, Blackman recalled how eight years ago her son was taken from his Carenage home and carried to Laventille where he was killed.

No one was ever held for that killing and on Sunday night she was again telephoned and told her son had been killed.  Blackman said she did not want a return of the Mosaic principle of an eye for an eye but believed her prayers will bring her justice. According to police, 33-year-old Michael George Brown was at the corner of Prince and Duncan Streets, Port-of-Spain around 9.30 pm on Sunday when he was approached by a group of men. 

Police said the men shot at Blackman who ran, collapsed on George Street and was shot multiple times as he remained on the ground. He died on the spot. His 13-year-old son was spared after he ran to South Quay and hoped in a taxi heading to Carenage where his grandmother lives. “It have a God and the person who kill my child is someone child, someone brother and someone sister and the pain I feeling now they will feel the same pain through some kind of something. If I had my way I would go through Moses law but my prayers will comfort me” Blackman said.

She said her grandchild was now an orphan having lost both parents at a tender age. Blackman said about seven years ago her son was released from prison and had changed his life around. Blackman said her son, who was also called “Gambino” while “in the life” loved his girlfriend Sade Williams and would do anything for her and his mother. The two she said had planned on getting married soon. 

The killing of Blackman have taken the murder toll to 66 for the year while the murder toll for the same period last year was 90. Officers from the Region 1 Homicide Bureau are continuing investigations.

T&T recorded its 67th murder yesterday following the discovery of Andre Patrick’s body along the Caura Royal Road, Tacarigua, not to far away from his home. According to police reports, at around 8 am a maxi taxi transporting primary school children stopped after one of the students alerted the driver the man’s body was lying at the side of the road. The driver told police he reversed his vehicle and saw Patrick’s hand sticking out through the rubble of an old house. 

He contacted the Tunapuna CID, who later contacted the Region Two Homicide Bureau based in Arouca after it was discovered the body bore marks of violence and a spent shell was found nearby. Speaking with the media at the scene, Patrick’s sister Anyjah Arthur said he was a drug addict who had been accused of stealing fruits from villagers in the area. She said as recently as Sunday her brother had been warned by police about his alleged thieving ways.

“He have no friends. The only thing is he would smoke drugs. Some people say that he stole clothes but just small thing. Other than that he was not in nothing. “He used to stay to himself. He had no children or wife or nothing. He just used to do gardening down the road,” Arthur said, adding that the last time she saw her brother alive was on Monday.

Police say the shooting death of a 35-year-old Freeport man, who was killed as he slept with his girlfriend,  was a reprisal killing for the murder of gang leader Hayden “Ludo” Nero. Garvin Andrews and the woman were in the bedroom of their one room apartment off Mission Road at around 2.50 am yesterday when gunmen broke in and shot him four times. By the time Freeport police arrived at the scene,  Andrews was dead and his killers long gone.

Andrews’ landlord, who identified himself only as Bill, said he was watching television when he heard the gunshots. He said he immediately called the police but was fraid to go outside. when police arrived he learned that Andrews was dead. He said Andrews’ girlfriend was taken to the police station by officers and had not returned up to midday. Bill said he knew little about Andrews except that his identification card gave his address as Cipero Street, San Fernando. 

He said he rented the place to Andrews’ former girlfriend last September, but the woman moved out after two weeks. He said although he rented the apartment to the woman, he allowed Andrews to stay because he paid the rent on time and never gave trouble. Police did not say what was Andrews involvement in Nero’s death. On February 3, Nero, 35, and his friend Dwayne Callender were shot several times outside his Lisas Gardens, Couva home. 

Nero was struck several times on the head and body and died immediately. Callender was shot in his legs and was treated and discharged from the San Fernando General Hospital. Police said Nero had several firearms charges pending at the Couva Magistrates’ Court and had conviction for firearm and drug offences. 

A sick juror has yet again caused the adjournment of hearings of the trial of 12 men accused of murdering central businesswoman Vindra Naipaul-Coolman. The State’s main witness Keon Gloster was due to resume his testimony yesterday, but when the case was called in the Port-of-Spain Second Criminal Court, presiding Judge Malcolm Holdip was informed of the issue with the female juror. Holdip said the juror had provided a letter from her doctor which said she needed several days to rest and as a result he had to adjourn the case to next Monday.

In January, Holdip decided to remove an alternate juror who had caused repeated delays in the trial due to illness. Two other jurors have also been removed from the original 12-member jury and six alternates, that were selected at the start of trial in March, last year. However their removal was not due to illness but rather separate conflicts with their fellow jurors. Gloster, who is related to most of the accused men, was allegedly present when Naipaul-Coolman was killed at a house in Upper La Puerta, Diego Martin in December 2006. 

Prosecutors are in possession of several statements which Gloster allegedly gave police which led to the men being charged. He has since claimed that he did not implicate the men and was coerced into signing the statements by police. Despite Gloster’s decision to recant on his evidence, prosecutors are expected to tender the statements into evidence and have their contents read to the jury when the trial resumes next week. 

Investigations are continuing into an incident on Wednesday after customs officers at the TTPost office in Piarco discovered 1.52 kilos of cocaine in four picture frames being exported to Nigeria. Senior customs officials confirmed the drug, valued at $661,000, was hidden in the back of the picture frames which were being posted to Nigeria by a 26-year-old woman of Chickland, Freeport. The discovery was made just before midday after officers, acting on information, intercepted the package after it was weighed and tagged.

Although the woman posting the package has not been arrested, police officials said they were following certain leads and would be questioning the woman. Meanwhile, customs officers will begin the phased move to their new location at the Government Campus, Richmond Street, Port-of-Spain, from today.

Senior officials confirmed the exercise would begin with boxes of documents being taken from Customs House on Abercromby Street, Port-of-Spain, to be loaded into a container at the new site, where they will be fumigated over the weekend, before being removed and logged at the new office on Monday. Officials said the new building was already equipped with furniture.

Among the departments that would begin moving in the first phase are the registry which comprises administrative and support staff, the human resource department and other selected officials. Originally scheduled to relocate by the end of January, officials said it had been delayed as a result of minor works which were yet to be completed. Last month, officials said they would begin the move after Carnival.

It is expected that approximately 200 people will be relocated in the first phase. During a tour of the new building last December, Housing and Urban Development Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal commended the contractor, Exeqtech, for its efforts to complete renovation and refurbishment works within seven months at a cost of $77 million.

Three men will appear before a Scarborough magistrate today charged with shop-breaking and larceny. The T&T Guardian understands that the men, aged 24 to 26, from Buccoo and Canaan, Tobago were arrested around 3.30 am on Friday, hours after D’ Shop, owned and operated by Neil Ramsammy in Lambeau, was robbed. 

The men, police said, were seen lurking in the area. Police say the men were known to them and a search was conducted on the vehicle in which they travelling, where alcohol and cigarettes were recovered. The stolen items had an estimated value of $29,000. Constables Richardson and Thomas of the Scarborough CID are leading the investigation.

Chaguanas police are searching for a close male relative of a man who was murdered at his Felicity home yesterday. Channilal Mangroo, 54, was found dead with multiple wounds about his body near a jhandi (Hindu religious flag) in his yard on Dookan Street, Felicity, early yesterday morning.
According to reports a man on his way to work shortly after 7 am saw blood in the yard of Mangroo’s home. Upon closer inspection, he saw his body lying near the jhandi.

A report was made to the Chaguanas police who arrived at the scene shortly after. Central Division head Senior Supt Johnny Abraham said the police were looking for a close male relative in connection with the murder. He said the murder stemmed from a family dispute but there were only speculations, so far, as to the cause of the argument. Others reports indicate that a land dispute led to Mangroo’s death. 

Residents of the area told the T&T Guardian Mangroo, popularly known as “Mouth”, was a former sugar cane worker. He lived with the close relative, his spouse and their children. They said he was already chopped some time ago by the same relative during an argument. “‘Mouth’ left the home and was renting an apartment nearby. Apparently he came back home on Sunday night to check them for something,” it was stated.

A resident who said he went to school with the relative said he was a pleasant fellow who never troubled anyone. “That’s why this murder has everyone in the area confused,” he added. Earlier this month, retired nurse and community activist, Shirley McMillan, was stabbed to death at her home in Edinburgh 500, Chaguanas. Her daughter, Gillian Anthony, reportedly mentally ill, was arrested and charged. Residents of Felicity were also thrown into a state of shock over the death of four childhood friends in a car accident in the area over the weekend.

The wife of murdered street vendor Godwin “Bake” Goolie is appealing to the police to find her husband’s killer. “We have heard nothing from the police yet. I have no idea why someone would do this. I want the police to find the people responsible for doing such a wicked act,” Goolie’s wife, Diane said. Goolie, 47, of Augustus Joseph Trace, Guapo, was shot dead around 10 pm on Saturday. Witnesses said he was lying on a garage ramp at Shaggy’s Carwash, waiting for his wife when a man walked up from behind and opened fire. 

Although Goolie had received death threats days before, his wife says she has no idea why her husband was killed. They were married for 15 years and had four children from ages 15 to 29. Another family plunged into mourning after their loved one was murdered on Sunday morning is still trying to come to terms with the tragedy. Four-months pregnant Vivan Goordeen, the wife of Anderson Cornwall, said she was awaiting the post mortem today before making funeral arrangements.

Cornwall, 21, of Church Street, Penal, who was putting things in place to welcome his first baby, was accosted by two men outside a club in Debe. He tried to run, but they opened fire on him, hitting him in the head. They then snatched his gold chain and escaped in a car. Goordeen said she heard four men were detained for questioning.  Investigations are continuing.

Woman charged with stabbing 10-year-old

A 22-year-old woman is expected to appear today before a San Fernando magistrate charged with allegedly stabbing her ten-year-old relative. The woman was arrested after Claris Cross, a Standard Two pupil, was stabbed four times at her Solomon Street, Vistabella home on Wednesday. Police reports said the stabbing stemmed from an argument over the television. The child suffered a punctured lung and remans warded at the San Fernando General Hospital where her condition is said to be improving. The woman was charged on Friday afternoon.

Police are investigating the murder of 20-year-old Korie Joseph, who was found dead along North Road Eastern Settlement, Sangre Grande, on Wednesday night. Police said he was killed sometime around 8.30 pm. Officers said villagers reported hearing gunshots and later found Joseph in his neighbour’s yard with bullet wounds. Shortly after he was shot, police said residents claimed they saw a heavily tinted white SUV speeding away. 

At the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, Joseph’s mother, Lucy-Ann Joseph, described her third son as always “cool and quiet.” She was unsure why anyone would have wanted him dead. Joseph was T&T’s 95th murder for the year. In an unrelated murder, police investigating the killing of Alyrio Howard say they have been informed that his killing may be drug related. Howard, who worked as an accountant with insurance company Sagicor, was gunned down on Tuesday night.

Homicide officers say the information is that killing may have been a message to a relative who lives abroad. Police had initially been baffled as to why anyone would want the father of two dead, as he was not known to be involved in anything illegal or associated with anyone who was a part of the underworld.

Police reports are that around 8.50 pm on Tuesday, Howard, 35, of Queen Elizabeth Avenue, Petit Valley, was driving east along Carlton Avenue, St James, when a Nissan B-13 stopped in front of his Hyundai Elantra. Two men came out and shot him several times before driving off. The car was later found abandoned.  

Murder suspect held
Meanwhile, police have arrested a 20-year-old man in relation to the murder on November 7 last year of Salim Dalzell, 17. Dalzell was gunned down outside the Success Laventille Secondary School. 
The suspect, who lives at Beetham Gardens, Laventille, was arrested on Wednesday and is expected to be placed on identification parades over the weekend. He is  being represented by attorney Fareed Ali. 

A 62-year-old man was killed during an argument with a 58-year-old relative at their La Horquetta home yesterday. Stephen Vialva’s relative is now under police guard at hospital after being taken there for treatment. According to police, around 4.30 am yesterday, Vialva was at his Aldwyn Roberts Crescent, Phase 3, home when he and the suspect began arguing over the way a female relative was being looked after. 

Vialva, police said, attacked the suspect with a hammer and the suspect defended himself with a cutlass. The two fought for some time and were still fighting when police arrived about an hour later. Police said they found the suspect holding on to Vialva and both men were bleeding from injuries to their heads and upper bodies. Vialva died on the scene while the suspect was taken for medical treatment. 

Relatives of the deceased did not want to speak with reporters when approached at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday. Police yesterday said based on their investigations, the suspect might not be charged with murder as it looked like a case of self-defence. Cpl Manswell of the La Horquetta Police Station is continuing investigations. In an unrelated incident, a 27-year-old Penal woman survived a knife attack by a former lover weeks after breaking off a seven-year relationship with the man.

Crystal Noel was still warded at the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH) where she was being treated for wounds to her neck, back and head, yesterday, but doctors said none of her injuries was life threatening. According to a police report, the woman was at her home off the Penal Rock Road when the 25-year-old suspect entered and started an argument over their breakup. Police said at some stage the man took up a kitchen knife and stabbed Noel several times before running off.

Noel was taken to the Penal Police Station by a relative and officers rushed her the Siparia District Health Facility where she was attended to and then transferred to the SFGH. The suspect is yet to be arrested. PC Khalil of the Penal CID is investigating. —Jensen Lavende and Kevon Felmine

A 35-year-old Freeport bakery owner was held up yesterday and robbed at gunpoint. The incident occurred shortly after midday at her San Francisco Lane Settlement home, which also houses her businessplace. According to Usha Ramlogan, who spoke to CrimeWatch host Ian Alleyne shortly after the incident, the gunman ambushed her just outside the bakery and hit her a gun butt to the head.

He then demanded that she hand over cash and other valuable items, including cellphones. Ramlogan said she was robbed of over $20,000 in cash and valuables. Officers from the Freeport Police Station are investigating.

A shooting in Sangre Grande has left one man dead and his female friend in hospital. According to police reports, Dale Gabriel, 28, died early Saturday morning after a masked gunman attacked the pair while they were liming in North Settlement, Sangre Grande, on Friday around 3.30 pm. Both were taken to the Sangre Grande District Hospital, where Gabriel died on Saturday around 2.30 am.

Oneillia Solomon, who was shot in the left leg, is warded in a stable condition. In an unrelated incident a 20-year-old man from Vega de Oropouche was placed under police guard after he came to the Sangre Grande District Hospital with a gunshot injury to the abdomen. According to police, the man was identified as one of four men who had earlier beaten a 52-year-old police officer. 

Police said while the officer, Anthony Prince, was at the Pearl Night Club at Savi Street, Sangre Grande, he got into an altercation with a group of men who began to beat him. While being beaten, the officer, who is attached to the Transport and Telecom Branch, drew his service revolver and shot one of his attackers. The others then fled.

Police said Prince was at the bar when he observed that the men were being unruly and walked over to them with the intention of calming them down. While speaking with the group Prince identified himself as a police officer and was assaulted. The men, police said, had Prince surrounded and were physically assaulting him. Following the shooting, he made his way to the police station and was taken to hospital. While there, one of his attackers came in complaining of being shot. 

The 20-year-old man was identified as one of the men who had attacked Prince and was placed under police guard where he will remain until he is officially arrested and charged. Police are looking for the other men who attacked the officer.

Two men charged with robbing Senior Magistrate Ejenny Espinet of her Tucson SUV last Thursday were denied bail yesterday when they appeared before an Arima magistrate. Samuel Ferreira, 23, of Toussaint Lane and Dwayne Drayton, 21, of Water Trace, St Lucien Road, both of Tunapuna, stood before Senior Magistrate Indrani Cedeno charged with robbery and receiving stolen items. 

A report said on April 15, Espinet arrived at her home in Trincity around 3 pm when she was approached by two men. She was robbed of her bronze Tucson. Police said the vehicle and a 9mm Taurus pistol with two rounds of ammunition were later recovered. Cpl Richardo Ramjohn laid the charges.

The accused men were denied bail and remanded to reappear in court tomorrow.

A suspended police constable was arrested yesterday, after being found driving a truckload of stolen building material. According to reports, around 2 am yesterday, PC Moses and a party of officers from the Southern Division were on patrol along the M2 Ring Road, Debe, when they spotted a four-ton truck transporting building material. 

When the officers stopped the truck one occupant ran off and managed to escape. When questioned, the driver, a suspended police constable, of Cunupia, could not give an account of where he got the material. He allegedly told the officers he found the material by the roadside. The officers took the man into custody and around 1.45 am they learnt that a robbery was reported by security officers posted on the site of the University of the West Indies’ South Campus. 

The security guards told police they were tied up by two men who entered the compound. When they were able to free themselves, they discovered the material was missing. The truck and material were impounded by police. In an unrelated incident, a San Fernando man is today nursing a gunshot injury at the San Fernando General Hospital, after he was shot in the stomach following a robbery in front his home yesterday. 

According to reports, Kemo Frederick, of Papourie Road, Duncan Village, San Fernando, had just returned home around 12.20 am when he was approached by an armed man. 

Frederick told police he had just come out of a white Toyota Hilux when a car pulled up behind him and a man dressed in dark clothing came out. The man robbed him of his IPhone and a G-Shock watch and shot him in the abdomen. The bandit got back into his car and drove off. Frederick was rushed to hospital. However, when police visited the scene a short time later, the Hilux, registration TCR 8320, which belongs to a Southern contractor, was not on the scene. 

Southern Division police are continuing investigations. Police are also investigating a robbery at a La Romaine mini mart on Friday night. According to reports, around 7.50 pm on Friday, three men dressed in black and armed with firearms entered Ramlal’s Mini Mart on Southern Main Road, La Romaine. Proprietor Kelvin Ramlal, 54, and several customers were held to gunpoint, while one of the bandits went behind the counter. The bandits took a vault containing $100,000 and escaped on foot. No one was hurt in the incident.

Southern Division Police are continuing investigations. 

A celebration of birth took a drastic turn for the worse on Saturday night. Nigel Maloney, 37, was gunned down while at a christening party at North Eastern Settlement around 9.45 pm. Police said Maloney, who had been arrested in the past for several criminal offences, was turning his life around. He is believed to have been killed because of his new lease on life. 

According to police reports, the child’s mother heard three gunshots and found Maloney dead with bullet wounds to the head and back. He died at the scene. Eastern Division Task Force officers responded to the killing and along with the Homicide Bureau are continuing investigations. Less that two hours later, a 24-year-old Morvant man was killed by a bullet supposedly meant for a friend.

Police said the victim, Calvin Joseph, was walking along St Hill Street, Arouca, near Kenny’s Barber Shop with three friends around 11.30 pm when a gunman shot at the group from inside a car. Joseph was hit and died on the spot. Members of the Northern Division Task Force responded, and investigations are continuing. 

The murders took the murder toll to 177 for the year, 18 fewer than the toll for the corresponding period last year.

HOLDER, IONA of Brathwaite Street Belmont died on 13th October 2015. She was the wife of Wilfred Edmund Holder (deceased). Mother of Errol Holder, Kenwyn (William) Holder, Garth (Roy) Holder, Esmee Mc Kell, June Akong, Vernon Oscar, Theresa Oscar and Ethelbert Oscar . Aunt of John (Johnnie) Holder and many more. Family of the Holders, Oscars, Charles, Johns, Butlers, Phillips & Byers.

Friend of Mr. & Mrs. Thorne, Guy & Helen Pierre and many more.Funeral service at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday 21st October 2015 at St Margaret's Anglican Church, St Margaret's Lane, Belmont, followed by a cremation at 11:00 a.m.

No Flowers by request. For enquiries, call C&B 625-1170 or visit clarkandbattoo. com Jeffrey Holder, Sylvia Gall, Sherma Abraham, Marilyn Holder, Wayne Holder, Michael Holder, Kathy Ann Musgrave, Denise Permell, Debra Holder-Clarke. Motherin- law of Clara Holder, Kay Holder, Wavell Bunche McKell. Keith Akong, Rosanna Holder, Gerald Gall, Franklyn Abraham, Laura Holder, Ann Holder, Brinsley Musgrave, Anthony Permell, Alan Clarke. Grandmother of thirty-two (32). Great Grandmother of twenty-seven (27) and Great Great Grandmother of one (1).

Sister of Thorne Oscar (deceased), Rosenthal Oscar, Hester Butler (deceased), Monica John, Helena Charles,