2 more URP workers gunned down
THE murder figure shot up once again on Wednesday night with the execution of two Unemployment Relief Programme (URP) employees, and the death of a Point Fortin resident yesterday. Dead are URP foreman Leo Melville Philip and labourer Akil Alexander, as well as Point Fortin resident Stephan Caton. According to reports, Philip, 44, and Alexander, 23, were at Phillip’s Irwin MacMillan Drive home in La Horquetta, at about 10.35 pm Wednesday, entertaining two female guests, when two masked men entered through a back door and announced that they came to "rob and kill." After robbing the men and women, the bandits ransacked the house, taking jewelry and cash. The gunmen then walked up to the two URP employees, put a gun to each man’s head and fired. Both men slumped to the ground and the killers ran off. Police from the nearby La Horquetta Police Station, followed by the Emergency Health Services, rushed to the scene and took the injured men to the Arima District Hospital, where Alexander was pronounced dead. Philip was transferred to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he later died. Family and co-workers described Phillip as a cool, quiet man and friends and co-workers described Alexander as a happy person who just liked a good lime. Police believe Alexander was in the wrong place at the wrong time, that the killings were URP-related and the robberies were simply to throw off investigators. Police told Newsday Alexander was threatened several times over the URP and his control of ghost gangs. Several residents told Newsday that their names appeared on his ghost list, and they had to pay him $100 to receive their cheques. Meanwhile, senior URP officials have confirmed a number of ghost gangs, corrupt practices and irregularities in Arima, and are calling on Arima Mayor Eustace Nancis and MP Pennelope Beckles to launch an investigation. Caton, 19, of Egypt Village, Point Fortin, had been shot in the head during Point Portin Borough Day celebrations on May 7. He had been hospitalised since the shooting and died yesterday around 10 am without regaining consciousness. A policeman has been charged with his murder. The murder toll now stands at 133 in 138 days. Visiting the scene were ASP Badal, Insp Daniel, Cpl Tim Kew and PCs Ramjattan and Henry. Cpl Tim Kew is investigating.
Comments
"2 more URP workers gunned down"