‘Santaman’ shot dead in Gonzales

A 65-year-old retired acting fire station officer was shot dead while working “PH” in Gonzales on Saturday afternoon. His murder is the 224th for the year. Telling his family that he would be back home later, Larry Logie, affectionately known as “Santaman” of Boissiere Village in Maraval, left his home around 3 pm on Saturday. The father of three worked the Gonzales to Belmont route.

According to police reports, several loud explosions were heard around 6.30 pm, and Logie was found slumped over in the driver’s seat in the car. Belmont Police Station officers went to the scene. Investigators are baffled over the motive for his killing as Logie did not appear to have been robbed. The body was viewed by a District Medical Officer and ordered removed to the Forensic Science Centre. At the victim’s Maraval home, one of his daughters, Lassandra Lingo, expressed shock over the killing. She told Newsday that her father decided to work PH to occupy his time when he retired in 1990.

She added that Logie was a good father, a devoted husband and a community oriented person, she said. He also attended the Assumption Roman Catholic Church every Sunday, and was respected in his community. Lingo added that she had begged her father, on several occasions, to stop working late hours, or to give up driving “PH” altogether. However, he refused, saying that he loved meeting people and did not feel happy sitting at home doing nothing. She feels that if he had listened to her advice, he would still be alive. The grieving woman said her father loved his family and never refused to assist anyone in times of distress. She is calling on the police to find the killer or killers.

As tears swelled in her eyes, Lingo said her father was given the name “Santaman” because he grew his hair and beard during the year and wore a Santa hat during the Christmas season. On January 1, he would shave his beard and cut his hair and then let it grow until December, she said. Scores of friends and neighbours gathered at Logie’s home yesterday to comfort the victim’s widow, expressing outrage over the killing. Police investigators said that while they have not yet established a motive for the killing, they are calling on members of the public who may have witnessed the killing to call 800-tips and assist with the investigation. An autopsy today will determine the cause of death.