Find the killers

The reports of this matter are shocking. A family home, nestled in a forested area miles off the Carlsen Field Road, was invaded then burnt to the ground. Three bodies were recovered at the scene. Dead are Michelle Harrylal, 26, her common-law husband Michael Applewaithe, 35, and another male.

We express condolences to the family of the victims. They should be given the necessary support and counselling they will badly need during this trying and traumatic time.

Miraculously, a four-year-old child – understood to be Michelle Harrylal’s child – escaped from the scene. How the child managed to escape is unclear but he will forever live with the pain of the circumstances of the death of his family. Though he was left without physical injury, the psychological injury he is likely to have endured is profound and will affect him for the rest of his life. We hope he receives the requisite counselling. If it becomes necessary, the Children’s Authority may have a role in this matter.

Certainly lawyers with experience in representing the interest of minors should be present at all points of contact between the child and the police to ensure his best interest is kept at heart during this investigation.

This matter is still under probe, but it is shocking to think of how events may have unfolded. The family may have been set upon during their sleep in the dead of night, murdered and their house destroyed. Another possibility – suggested by a trail of what appeared to be blood – is the murders took place outside of the home and then the bodies were dumped in the house to be burnt.

The crying child told a woman who found him wandering barefoot along the roadway that his mother was burnt in a fire and is in heaven.

The facts of this case will remind many of the brutal murder of an entire family in Malabar in June, the murder of a family in Brasso Seco in 2014, and the 1994 murders of Deo, Rookmin, Hamilton and Monica Baboolal of Piparo at the behest of Dole Chadee. In the latter case, two children survived. Chadee was later hanged.

While members of the Carlsen Field community are shaken at this time, it is important for all to cooperate with the police and to come forward with any information they may have. They must assist law enforcement authorities as much as possible and also offer whatever support is needed by the family.

News of the murders in Carlsen Field came as the body of a woman was found in Valencia bearing marks of violence.

The country is on edge. These developments show that crime remains too much of an element in our social fabric and efforts to tackle it must continue intensely.

We hope the police have the required resources they need to comb the scene and to pursue leads. While there are many important issues facing the land, eradicating crime must be our number one priority.

That includes reforming the Police Service, as well as the criminal justice system as a whole. But more immediately, it means ensuring there are enough trained and experienced officers to work on the large number of cases that continue to emerge daily.

In a few weeks, Minister of Finance Colm Imbert will set out his Budget for the next year. It is hoped that while economic times remains hard, the Budget for the national security apparatus remains protected.

For now, all efforts must be aimed at finding the killers behind the Carlsen Field murders.