Murder in Woodbrook

Crime hit the largely residential area of Woodbrook yesterday morning at 7 am, when a supervisor at Santa Monica Limited was set upon by four men as he opened the business place. They chopped and slit his throat after forcing him to open the vault. Lincoln Rampersad, 60, an employee of Santa Monica for 47 years, was found with his throat slit and several chop wounds to his head and neck lying next to the back door by members of Telecom Security Services. According to police, a cleaner arrived at the scene a short while after Rampersad was shoved into the building located at the corner of Ana and Robert Street, Woodbrook.

She found the place completely ransacked. Hearing  noise she ran upstairs and contacted the security company while she hid. When the security officers arrived they found Rampersad lying next to the door. Police suspect he was trying to get out when he was killed. Investigations revealed that $4,000 was removed from the vault while a undisclosed amount of money and other valuable items were removed from the building. One eyewitness told Sunday Newsday that he was about to enter the building when the men who accosted Rampersad asked him what he was looking at and threatened to shoot him if he stayed around. Santa Monica Ltd sells chicken parts, whole chickens, sanitary wares, and other items.

When Sunday Newsday visited the Community Drive, Mt Lambert home of Rampersad his wife Marli Mohammed, cousin of Consultant to the Attorney General Office Nafessa Mohammed, was sedated and could not speak to the media because she recently suffered a mild stroke and was very close to her husband. Sharafat Mohammed described his brother-in-law as a loving, caring and  perfect father, husband and friend. “To me he was a close friend and I do not know what I will do now.” Rampersad, a father of three, was well known for his river limes, curry duck and clean fun. Mohammed said: “Just Sunday we were talking and he was commenting that the government has lost control of the land and the criminals own it. Little did we know it would come close to home. “He spoke about the amount of criminal he sees daily passing by the business place and nothing is being done about it.”