‘UNCLE SAM’ PROBES MURDER

This was confirmed to Newsday yesterday by senior sources within National Security who said the US law enforcement agents will work with local police on the case of 73-year-old Cynthia Matthews who stabbed to death on Saturday afternoon. Matthews, a retired factory worker and mother of four, reportedly once lived in America and was the holder of a US Passport.

She had returned to Trinidad upon her retirement and lived alone in Arima. Yesterday, Homicide Investigations Bureau officers informed officials at the United States Embassy, Marli Street in Port-of-Spain that an investigation had commenced into the murder of an American citizen.

Embassy officials - as is the norm with the murder or abduction of any American citizen anywhere in the world - contacted law enforcement agents in the US to relay information on the case.

Matthews was stabbed to death in a home invasion. Police believe that robbery may have been the motive as the house was ransacked.

It is believed that she may have fought with the intruder/s which led to her being stabbed multiple times. Yesterday, according to police working on the case, the woman’s relatives described her as an independent woman who loved to take care of her home.

The relatives added that the Arima woman did everything for herself and was not afraid of being alone. Yesterday, her four children were expected to arrive in the country from the United States to assist with funeral arrangements and take possession of her body. Garvin Heera, former director of the National Operations Centre and Matthews’ nephew, said that his aunt’s autopsy will take place today and he had been providing all the necessary support at this time of grief for his family.

He said that the entire neighbourhood close to where his aunt lived were in a state of shock and mourning over her demise. Police investigators said yesterday that they are working on certain leads and expect to make a breakthrough in this investigation. The murder toll yesterday stood at 50.