KOURY DEAD OF NIGHT AUTOPSY

In the dead of the night Saturday, forensic pathologist Dr Hughvon Des Vignes carried out an autopsy on the headless body of murdered businessman Dr Eddie Koury at the Forensic Science Centre in St James. Des Vignes, who was flown from Tobago to Trinidad, was met at the Piarco Airport by officers from the Central Division Police, and escorted to the Forensic Science Centre in a grey, four-door pick-up. Des Vignes arrived at the centre at 9.45 pm. He started the autopsy around 10 pm and was assisted by an attendant of his department. In the waiting room at the centre, three officers from the Central Division Police, were seen talking to Koury’s brothers. A major factor in the identification of the body was the existence of fingerprint records of Koury. Sources said that Koury was concerned  about crime in the country and took the  precaution of being fingerprinted in the event of anything happening to him. 

His family, who were in possession of the fingerprint copies, handed them  over to PC Francis on   Saturday night at the forensic centre. The prints  matched those of Koury and paved the way for the autopsy to be carried out. Arrangements for Saturday’s late-night autopsy came about through the intervention of two Government officials and a senior police officer. Up to press time yesterday, the head of Koury still had not been found. Des Vignes, after the autopsy, concluded that Koury died from shock and haemorrhaging consistent with stab wounds and decapitation. He was seen explaining to Koury’s brothers what he had discovered. Koury’s brothers, who witnessed the autopsy, remained at the forensic centre after midnight and spoke only to the police and Des Vignes.

Following the autopsy, Koury’s body was removed around midnight by funeral home, Clark and Battoo, in a white Mercedes van in preparation for Tuesday’s funeral. As far as could be ascertained, this was the first time an autopsy was done in the middle of the night and under such circumstances. Police officers later emerged from the centre with a black bag containing exhibits which they later lodged with the police guard there. Des Vignes left shortly after. The police investigators did not leave until 12.20 pm. Shortly after Koury was abducted from his business place in Macoya last Wednesday, ISKO Limited,  a company which sells medical supplies and equipment, police arrested five suspects, one of whom gave investigators information.

The men are still in custody and were to be charged last night. Latest reports reaching Newsday indicate that a sixth man was held by the police in St Vincent and attempts are being made to bring him back to Trinidad. Also, police discovered one of the cars used in the abduction was rented by an employee of Koury. That employee has now been detained by police. Police are said to be searching for three others which would bring the number of people being questioned to ten. Yesterday, police were in the process of preparing a file to take to the Director of Public Prosecutions and some charges were due to be laid last night. 

Koury was attacked at his business place at Macoya last Wednesday and bundled into a taxi that had been hijacked by a group of men. The taxi driver, Ramsaran Samlal, was tied up on Orange Grove Extension Road in Tacarigua. The men drove the car to a house in D’abadie, where they changed cars and got away before the police arrived. Shortly after, five suspects were held at a D’abadie house and questioned by officers of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad. They were handed over to the Homicide Bureau after Koury’s headless body had been found by villagers on Friday afternoon in bushes at Caparo. Newsday learnt that one of the suspects told the police that Koury was stabbed three times in his chest while still in his office. The search for Koury’s head continues. In the meantime, Samlal, the hijacked taxi driver, was hospitalised at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex.

Koury funeral tomorrow

Murder victim Eddie Koury was a loss to Trinidad and Tobago, according to a full-page advertisement in today’s Newsday. The ad titled, “Our Loss, Trinidad and Tobago,” was taken out by relatives of the dead businessman. Koury who was born in 1967 was married to Anya Laquis and the couple has two children aged one and four. He was described in the ad as a gentleman and a scholar. A son of Arima, Koury was born on June 16, 1967 and died on Wednesday after being murdered.

He was an island scholarship winner from Queen’s Royal College, he held Bachelor and Masters Degrees in Chemical Engineering from Cambridge University and a Phd from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), said the advertisement. The 38-year-old man was also described as committed to family and country. Koury was also the nephew of Health Minister Dr John Rahael and CEO of ISKO Limited based at the Macoya Industrial Estate. His funeral will take place tomorrow at 10.30 am from the St Finbar’s RC Church, Morne Coco Road, Diego Martin.