Lopinot family in fear following Philly murders

The 47-year-old Trinidadian man suspected by Philadelphia cops of the shooting deaths of his former common-law wife and her American husband, posed as his twin brother in order to get back into the United States from where he was deported. Following the deportation, he stayed at relatives and reportedly used his twin brother’s passport to regain entry into the states, where he pursued and stalked his former commonlaw wife before killing her on Tuesday. He also shot dead her 29-year-old husband. After the murder, the suspect calmly returned to Trinidad and is reported to be hiding out in East Trinidad. The suspect who was described as armed and dangerous by the West Philadelphia police reportedly returned to this country on Tuesday afternoon, hours after he shot dead Eugene Celestine, 29, and Pramatee Celestine, 40. The former security guard who was deported in 2001, grew up at Fishing Pond, Sangre Grande, and reportedly travelled to New York late last year where he made contact with Pramatee. He reportedly begged her to see her two sons, Randy 10, and Michael 14. During his visits to the home of Pramatee, the man reportedly made threats to the mother of two. Police reports revealed that around 2.20 am on Tuesday, the body of Eugene Celestine was found lying face-down on the pavement at North Ruby Street, Philadelphia with a single gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead 35 minutes later at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital.

At 2.40 pm, police were called to 106N 54th Street, just around the corner, where they found the body of Pramatee in the living room. An eyewitness to the murders said that Eugene Celestine was killed while returning home from work, while Pramatee was shot dead in the presence of Randy, her 10-year-old son. The boy was interviewed by the police and gave a full description of the killer. Newsday learned that West Philadelphia police contacted Interpol on Wednesday and asked for assistance in bringing the killer to justice. When Newsday visited the Lopinot home where Pramatee grew up, her mother Chandroutee Rampersad expressed fear that her entire family may be targetted by the cold-blooded killer. She added that the killer had previously issued several threats to her family and she was worried for their safety. She is in the process of making arrangements to travel to Philadelphia to have a proper funeral service for her daughter. While there she will also apply to the authorities to have her two grandsons taken into her care and have them returned to this country. Her daughter Seeta is expected to accompany her to Philadelphia. The grieving mother said that she is still shocked by the deaths of her daughter and son-in-law and equally concerned about the safety of her family. She claimed that Pramatee who always loved cooking, met the murder suspect while selling food at the Tunapuna market. She said that 15 years ago, all arangements were put in place for Pramatee to be married.

She claimed that on the eve of the wedding the murder suspect pulled up in front of her house and abducted Pramatee. The grieving woman claimed that Pramatee was forced into a relationship with a man and she was constantly beaten, tortured and humiliated. She said that in one instance, her daughter was speaking to male customers at the Tunapuna market when the man became enraged and threw a glass case at Pramatee. She suffered a cut which scarred her left hand. Pramatee left Trinidad five years ago and while in New York, she was beaten badly and suffered broken ribs. The police deported the suspect involved in that beating. Two years ago, Pramatee met and fell in love with Celestine and the couple got married. They also ran a restaurant and Celestine was in the process of adopting Randy and Michael. Relatives of the dead woman denied that Pramatee was having a relationship with the suspect. They added that he was employed at the restaurant owned by Pramatee and her husband but he continued to issue threats. They believe that the murders were planned. Senior police officers said yesterday that they are carrying out their own investigations into the matter and if the suspect is hiding out in this country he will be apprehended.