Tobago murder mars festive weekend

A 23-year-old father of one was gunned down execution style by one of two masked men at his home in Upper Scarborough, Tobago yesterday. Anton Hackett was killed instantly by a single shot to the head at close range  in the presence of his 20-year-old wife, Rhonda Phillips-Hackett, at their Young Street home a little after midnight. The killing put a damper on the long holiday weekend in Tobago where many young people are attending the Great Fete at Pigeon Point. The victim, a construction worker on the Milford Esplanade Project in Lower Scarborough, was reportedly trying on a new pair of pants when two masked men, one of them armed with a gun, stormed into the apartment. His wife was about three feet away when he was shot. The killer and his accomplice then fled.

Police recovered a spent shell at the scene and the killer’s weapon was identified as a .44 automatic. Hackett was originally from Parke Street in Scarborough, but had been living with his wife and infant son at the Young Street apartment, which was said to have been occupied by six persons. A large contingent of police officers were quickly on the scene, including Snr Supt Benjamin Watson, Head of the Tobago Division, Detective Sgt Garfield Moore, Cpl William Nurse of the Homicide Bureau, a police photographer, Detectives Shirley Stanley-Caruth, PC Alicia Piggott, and other officers. Also on the scene was ACP Crime Oswyn Allard, who was in Tobago for the weekend. The body, clad in a three-quarter blue jeans and a white T-shirt, was viewed by DMO Dr Mentor Melville, County Medical Officer of Health, Tobago, who ordered  the body’s removal to the Scarborough Hospital Mortuary. Investigators have ruled out robbery and are yet to establish a motive for the killing. Police investigations are continuing.