16 stabs, throat slit, hands tied, mouth gagged

THE BODY of a man was found in the centre of the Queen’s Park Savannah early yesterday morning in what senior police officers believe was a well-executed assassination.

Police sources said the man had about 16 stab wounds about the body, his hands were tied with a piece of white cloth in front of his chest, his throat was slit and his mouth was gagged with a similar piece of cloth, believed to be cotton. Most of the stab wounds were on the man’s torso in the region of his kidneys.  There were also wounds on his chest, hands and legs. He had not been identified up to late evening and officers of the St Clair Criminal Investigations Department (CID) are appealing to members of the public who may have missing relatives to go to the Forensic Science Centre to identify the man, who is of African descent.

One senior officer remarked that the man, believed to be between 25 and 32, appeared to have been tortured.  They said after stabbing the man, the assailant(s) slit his throat to make sure he was dead and that his mouth had been tied so tight that he could not scream for help.  According to reports, around 6.50 am Belmont resident Mariano Hospedales was walking through the Queen’s Park Savannah, about 550 feet north of a private cemetery owned by the Peschier family, when he stumbled upon the man’s body, which was clad only in blue and white plaid short pants and underwear.  The hair of the dark-skinned man was cut very low and he is about 5ft 9ins tall.

Hospedales, who was at the time going to karate exercise, then made a report to the St Clair CID after which a party of officers headed by acting Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime/Operation), Glen Roach, and including Sr Supt Maurice Piggott, Insp Gopersad, Sgt Seepersad, Cpls Brian Mercer and Lawrence, acting Cpl Veronique and PCs Bacchus, Hood, Herbert and James visited the scene. No weapon was found at the scene, but there was blood around the grassy area and District Medical Officer (DMO) Dr David Ibeleme told police that the man was killed where he was found. Dr Ibeleme also estimated time of death to be around 4 am.