State witness shot dead

Harold Joseph’s body remained on Alfred Valley road, Petit Valley, near Marmon’s Bar on the roadway for several hours while police officers waited for a district medical officer to arrive.

Joseph did not have a fixed address and was staying at a safe house in Carenage, investigators reported.

He was a witness to the shooting deaths of his friends Anthony “Bouge” Boodoo and Wilfred Mohammed, at Francis Street, Maraval, on December 1, 2007.

One man is before the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court charged with the murders.

Police report that last December, Boodoo, 32, Mohammed, 56, Joseph, and another man were liming at Francis Street, Maraval, near Cahoots Beauty Parlour, when a blue Nissan Sentra B12 car pulled up. Two occupants of the car opened fire at the group.

Boodoo, who was freed of a murder charge two years ago, was killed instantly while Mohammed and Joseph suffered gunshot wounds.

Mohammed died one day later at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital while Joseph survived. He was asked by the police to be their witness in the murder inquiry and he was placed in a safe house. Joseph had complained of being unhappy at the safe house but left several times to visit friends. His last visit on Saturday cost him his life.

Police believe his murder may be related to the December killings of his friends. Investigations are continuing.

On Friday night, a 32-year-old DJ, Gino Maraj of Winnie Mohammed Street, Diego Martin, was shot dead close to his home. The deaths of the two men and those of Yvette Taitt and Meela Sagram have taken the murder toll to 114.