Death over $3 gambling debt

A THREE DOLLAR gambling debt between two rival gangs resulted in one man being killed and his four relatives injured on Sunday — all by a single gunshot.

Up to late last evening, police were searching for an 18-year-old villager of Penal Rock Road, Moruga, who is believed to be the shooter. Investigators said the gunman used a 16 gauge sawed-off shotgun loaded with buck shot pellets, which ended the life of 46-year-old cane-cutter Anthony Hospedales, of Penal Rock Road. The father of nine was shot on the left side of his neck and died four hours after being admitted to the San Fernando General Hospital. The other wounded persons have been identified as Hospedales’ son Lyndon Collins, 23, a security guard, his nephews Laron Hospidales, 19, Quincy Hospidales, 17, and his cousin Jason Clarke. The four men were said to be warded in stable condition.

Police said the suspect is a member of one of the gangs. Prior to the killing he was allegedly beaten by the other gang after they demanded he pay off the debt of three dollars which arose out of a game of “whappie”, at a wake last Friday. According to residents of the village, members of the rival gangs were gambling at the wake and a dispute arose over $3. On Sunday, eyetwitnesses told Newsday, the suspect was attending a village cricket match at Platonite Trace. Around 3 pm he was confronted by two members of the other gang. The two men left and returned two hours later, armed with cutlasses, but did not find the suspect.  Instead they saw the suspect’s “good friend”, Rodney Seelal, sitting on a beach under a villager’s home. The two started beating Seelal. Within moments, witnesses said, several other people including Anthony Hospedales and some of his relatives, arrived and also began beating Seelal.

During the beating, the suspect returned with a gun. He reportedly stood a short distance away and fired a single shot that scattered several pellets. Anthony Pierre, a relative of the deceased, recalled that he was sitting with Seelal when  he saw the two men approaching. “They started beating on him and I run to the back,” Pierre stated. Mere minutes later, he said, he heard a loud explosion and people “bawling”. Another neighbour, Eileen Paddier, said after the gunshot rang out, the cricketers and spectators abandoned their game. She said three of the men who were hit — Lyndon, Jason and Quincy — ran into her yard. They were bleeding from wounds to the abdomen, face, knees and chest.

Paddier said she saw Hospedales lying on a bench. She said he knew he was dying because he kept saying: “I’m going. I’m going”. The bleeding man was rushed to hospital where he died at approximately 9 pm. The other victims were treated and warded. Seelal was also treated at hospital, but was discharged and spent the majority of yesterday being interviewed by police. Hospedales had been living for the past 20 years with his common-law-wife, Annmarie Collins. The couple had nine children between the ages of one year and 25 years. Visiting the scene was a party of officers from the Moruga Police Station and San Fernando Homicide Bureau. Investigations are continuing.