Fisherman shot dead in Pt Fortin

AWAKENED yesterday morning by a man who called out his name,  fisherman Michael “Pasor” Villafana, 40, armed himself with a cutlass and went to the front door of his Pt Ligoure, Point Fortin home,  to see who was calling him. His wife and five-year-old daughter were asleep.

Before Villafana could properly open the front door, the person pushed the door wide open and fired a single gunshot to his head. At first Police felt Villafana was beaten on the head by a heavy, blunt object, but an autopsy later revealed he was shot to the head.

Police sources told Newsday the father of two had a marijuana trafficking charge pending in the Point Fortin Magistrates’ Court and they believed the motive behind his murder was drug-related. Villafana’s wife, Veena Soohan, had already left home for the Forensic Science Centre in St James to witness the autopsy on her husband, when Newsday went to the house of mourning. Still trying to come to terms with his cousin’s death, Randolph Maharaj, 50, told Newsday he heard a loud noise at about 3 am yesterday. He said shortly after, a frantic Soohan came knocking on his door, screaming that someone had hit Villafana on his head and that he was “bleeding real bad.”

Maharaj said he left his home and went to the nearby home of his cousin, only to find Villafana lying on his back near the doorway in a fast-spreading pool of blood. “Blood was coming from his head and he was gasping for breath,” Maharaj recalled. He said his brother had no enemies and was a devoted husband and father. He said Villafana also had a 17-year-old daughter, who lived with her mother in Port-of-Spain. Neighbour Asha Johansingh, 24, told Newsday that late last month Villafana had an altercation with a man who was staying at Maharaj’s home while he (Maharaj) was in Tobago. The man subsequently left. Villafana never mentioning any further confrontation with this man.

Visiting the scene yesterday were San Fernando Homicide Bureau and Point Fortin police officers including ASP Rattan Singh Sgt Jimmy Palloo and Cpl Anthony Monsegue. No arrest has been made.