Prison officer shot 14 times

A 51-year-old prison officer was shot 14 times with a high-powered gun, execution-style outside his Mentor Alley home in Laventille around 9.10 pm on Thursday. Anslem Paul is the second prison officer to be murdered in Laventille in the past three years. His death brought the murder toll for the year to 72. Winston Sandy, another prison officer, was shot and killed at St Barb’s under mysterious circumstances in 2002. Police investigators believe that Paul’s  murder was ordered from inside the Golden Grove Prison by a prisoner. Investigators are following leads and several prisoners are expected to be question. An autopsy carried out at the Forensic Science Centre yesterday by Dr Eastlyn McDonald Borris revealed that Paul was shot in the head, chest, back, hands, feet and neck.

Paul’s wife Jacqueline,  who lives at Sixth Street, Malick, expressed shock at the brutal killing of her husband and was unsure why someone would have wanted him dead. She described him as a good man, a hard worker and an honest citizen. Police reports revealed that around 9.10 pm, Anslem Paul, who worked for more than 23 years at the Remand Yard Section at the Golden Grove Prison, Arouca, was standing next to his car at Mentor Alley, when two men armed with guns approached him. He was riddled with bullets at point blank range. Paul slumped to the ground and died shortly after. Ralph Felix, Paul’s neighbour, said he was alerted by several shots from the area where Paul lived. On checking, he saw the body of Paul slumped in a pool of blood.

A party of officers led by Snr Supts Leon Anthony, Errol Denoon, acting Sgt Ajith Persad and PC Charles, along with District Medical Officer Dr Aitkam Mootoo went to the scene and ordered the removal of the body to the Forensic Science Centre. Acting Commissioner of Prisons John Rougier also visited the scene and offered words of comfort to relatives and friends of Paul. Rougier told Newsday he and prison officers who worked with Paul, and those who knew him, were in shock over the killing. He added that some officers were so traumatised on learning of the murder that arrangements were being put in place to have the affected officers undergo counselling. “Paul was one of our better officers who was serious about his job, and I am hoping that it was not the reason why he lost his life,” said Rougier.

He said despite the murder of Paul, prison officers would not be intimidated and would continue to discharge their duties. Rougier said he is being kept abreast of the investigation into the murder, and has advised his officers to exercise the necessary precautions, both at work and at home. However, disgruntled prison officers said yesterday that they continue to be threatened by prisoners, and they feel that their lives are in danger. The prison officers are calling on the authorities to deal with the threats seriously, or they feel they may suffer the same fate. Police investigators returned to the scene of the crime yesterday and attempted to secure statements from people who may have seen the killers fleeing the scene.