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.

ROMAN CATHOLIC Archbish-op Edward Gilbert yesterday declared that prodigal sons and daughters are slowly returning to the Church. Delivering the homily at Corpus Christi Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Gilbert said recent statistics show the number of persons participating in all Catholic sacraments has increased. He added that while some people were out “shopping,” the statistics indicate that they are returning to the Church and the Vicar of Christ. The Archbishop also appealed to the congregation to pray for the clergy because they are under  unspoken pressure and the majority of priests in the country were undeserving of such ordeals. Gilbert described Christians as “strong” and were able to bounce back from many difficult situations, as their faith in the Eucharist taught them to be faithful and strong. Asking that persons meditate and reflect on their attitude to worship, in addition to reviewing the amount of  time spent in church, he urged the congregation to “listen to the Holy Father,” and spend time daily in prayer.

Claiming that there were many disturbing things in society today, the Archbishop stated that we need to realise we are God’s people and that we have a commitment to the Eucharist. He also said many problems in the country were of an ethical nature. If we fail to recognise this and to be faithful, he concluded that we would ultimately fail. Prayers were offered by some of the parishes present at yesterday’s procession for a decline in   the criminal activity in the country, as well as for children who were being led astray. Yet another parish prayed that an increase in religious life among young people would lead them to the church. Some of the nuns representing the various orders explained that Corpus Christi was significant because it was a day when homage was paid to Christ, “in a real sense.” Asked whether they thought more frequent gatherings such as these would help to bring persons together and would contribute to a lessening in the crime situation, they replied that though prayer is important, prayer alone would not help as everyone had things to do and certain roles to play. Yesterday’s procession saw persons from every facet of society coming out, from the very young to grandparents being guided by their grandchildren, to offer prayers and celebrate the Body of Christ.

YET another elderly person from the southland has committed suicide because of health problems this past week. Just a day after amputee Sundar Singh, 60, a diabetic, was found hanging from a railing at the San Fernando General Hospital, a 70-year-old stroke victim died at the same hospital after ingesting a toxic substance. Police sources told Newsday, that stroke victim Lalla Ramkissoon, was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. Ramkissoon of San Francique, Penal was confined to bed and had become frustrated and depresssed over his health condition. Ramkissoon was found frothing around 6.30 am by his son Ryan Ramkissoon, 41, who had gone to check on the elderly man. According to reports, Ryan observed that his father was not on his bed and went in search of him. The shocked man told investigators that he went outside and found his father frothing on the ground.  The elderly man was seen holding a brown plastic bottle which contained a toxic substance police believe to be the deadly weedicide gramoxone. He was also holding a cup.

The elderly man reportedly told his son that he had just drank the poisonous liquid. An Emergency Health Service (EHS) ambulance was summoned and the semi-conscious man was rushed to the San Fernando General Hospital, where he was admitted to Ward 12. He died at around 9.30 am. An autopsy is expected to be performed at the San Fernando General Hospital mortuary on Monday. PC Khan of the Penal CID visited the scene and is continuing investigations. Another autopsy expected to be done on Monday at the Forensic Sciences Centre will be on the body  of Sundar Singh, 60, who apparently committed suicide at the San Fernando General Hospital on Wednesday. According to reports, around 5 am police officers got a telephone tip-off and went to the hospital where they found Singh hanging from a rope secured to a railing on the northern side of the hospital.

IN delivering his Corpus Christi sermon yesterday, Roman Catholic priest Fr Wally Patrick Brenan lashed out at persons who “show contempt for the human body.”  Fr Brenan delivered the fiery sermon before hundreds of Catholic devotees who gathered for the 8 am Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Harris Promenade, San Fernando. Fr Brenan told the congregation that, “The physical human body is holy,” lamenting however, that,  “…today it is treated with degradation through violence, murder, rape and domestic violence.”  Fr Brenan also condemned the degradation of young children by adults for the sole purpose of “having pleasure. “He was also critical of the way people “use and abuse each other.” He reminded the congregation that “our relationship with Jesus is not only spiritual but physical.” Like so many of their counterparts throughout the country, Roman Catholic devotees in the south, participated in Corpus Christi celebrations yesterday with a procession along the streets of the southern city which came after the Mass. And like celebrations in years past, the youth played a prominent role in the procession with many youngsters singing hymns of praise as they walked alongside their parents and friends. In sharp contrst, elsewhere in the southland, especially in Fyzabad and Avocat, marches were being held in commemoration of Labour Day celebrations, which this year fell on the same day as Corpus Christi.

A PROMINENT South Trinidad doctor has been identified as the United National Congress’s (UNC) “bombshell” in the Opposition’s Local Government Elections line-up to contest the People’s National Movement (PNM)-controlled San Fernando City Corporation. According to party sources, head of the San Fernando General Hospital’s (SFGH) Opthamology Department, Dr Anirudh Mahabir, is the UNC’s “ace-in-the-hole” for the July 14 polls in San Fernando. While UNC sources could not definitively confirm Mahabir’s candidacy, senior Health Ministry officials said Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday, Mahabir and the party’s attorney met recently with the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) in order to clarify certain Civil Service regulations affecting Mahabir’s eligibility as a candidate.  The UNC currently holds the Les Efforts West/La Romaine and Marabella East seats on the Corporation. When contacted yesterday, UNC Local Government Election coordinator Chandresh Sharma said a full list of the party’s local government elections will be released over the weekend.  Attempts to contact Dr Mahabir were unsuccessful.

ONE HUNDRED United Nation’s volunteer medical doctors, will be supplied to Trinidad and Tobago as part of an agreement signed between the Ministry of Health and the United Nation’s Development Programme (UNDP), to assist with the enhancement of the health care service in the country. The volunteers, who will be contracted for a three-year period, will complement the existing core of health care professionals throughout the country, at all levels of health institutions with special emphasis paid to the needs of primary health care services. The target recipients of this programme will be the low income bracket and the poor, who are the main clients of the public health system. The other beneficiaries of the programme will be the junior medical professionals, who will form part of the team of professionals working with the experienced UNV personnel. Health Minister Colm Imbert signed the agreement on behalf of the ministry, while UNDP’s Resident Representative Inyang Ebong-Harstrup signed on behalf of the UNDP.

Just under $.5 million has been distributed to several groups in Tobago under the Community Development Fund (CDF). The funding was released under the CDF’s Non-Govern-mental Organisation (NGO)/-Community Based Organisation (CBO) Grants Window Prog-ramme. The formal signing and hand-over of agreements took place during a ceremony at the Blue Haven Hotel at Bacolet, Tobago, on Wednesday evening. Recipients included the Plymouth/Bethesda Heritage Fest-ival Committee which got a grant of $142,381 to be used in establishment of facilities at the Plymouth/Bethesda Heritage Dev-elopment Centre; Whim Police Youth Club — $137,300 for a skills project; Tobago Council for Handicapped Children (TCHC) received $68,350 for agricultural and other projects at the TCHC-run, Happy Haven School at Signal Hill. The sum of $88,489 went to the Moriah Sunset Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society for culinary arts programme, as well as the construction of a bakery, while the Pembroke Hot Peppers Association received $50,000 to be utilised in a hot pepper production and export project.
 
Addressing the occasion, Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Orville London emphasised that the financial grants were meant for development and strongly urged the organisations to use the funding for just that purpose. He referred to them as ‘pioneers’ in this particular phase of Tobago’s development. “As pioneers you have a particular challenge, because how pioneers perform or don’t perform, to a very large extent will determine what is the kind of path or the kind of journey that is going to be there for those who come after you all”, he stressed. London told them they had only met the first challenge of accessing the funding, but the second and real challenge was to ensure that this funding translates into meaningful development within their respective communities. “All Tobago charges you five representatives and your groups to ensure that the way in which you translate this funding into development, will send a powerful signal to the CDF and other lending agencies, that Tobago is in fact a healthy environment in which they can invest their money and in which they can ensure that these initiatives are continued”, stressed London.

NATIONAL Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) Political Leader Lennox Sankersingh yesterday insisted that the party would not break up over plans to continue its relationship with the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) after the July 14 Local Government Elections. During a meeting last week in Scarborough, the NAR’s Tobago arm reiterated its opposition to the Trinidad executive’s decision to form an alliance with the UNC for the upcoming polls. Sankersingh said while that meeting did not go favourably, he did not believe that the NAR’s decision to team up with the UNC and continue this relationship after July 14 would cause the party to become fragmented.  The NAR leader declared that “common sense” would enable anyone to see that a building of ties between the two parties will strengthen the NAR and bring back the “spirit of 1986”. The NAR seems set to fight most of the electoral districts from Port-of-Spain to Arima while the UNC will concentrate mostly on its traditional areas.

Sankersingh stated that NAR supporters will be encouraged to vote UNC in districts where the party has no candidates. UNC chairman Wade Mark indicated that UNC supporters would vote for the NAR in those districts where it has no candidates. Sankersingh declined to say when the NAR and UNC would field joint political platforms for next month’s elections or if the party would join in the Opposition’s Monday night public meetings. The NAR leader was present at the UNC’s meeting at Port-of-Spain City Hall on Monday where Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday said more would be revealed about the UNC-NAR’s accommodation for the July 14 polls at future meetings. Panday ruled out any accommodation with Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj’s National Team Unity (NTU) as “fiction”. Former NAR/UNC stalwart Trevor Sudama said any alliance between the two would fail to defeat the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) in next month’s polls. NTU, former PNM Minister Wendell Mottley’s Citizens Alliance and the Democratic Party of Trinidad and Tobago are not contesting the elections.

Gusty winds associated with heavy showers resulted in the roof of a house at Piraco being partially ripped apart on Wednesday, while a dog kennel was also destroyed. Indra Maraj told Newsday that around 1 pm, she was sitting in the gallery of her home when she observed what appeared to be very strong winds emerging from the direction of the Piarco river. She added that she started praying and looked on as the gusty winds partially ripped apart the roof of the nearby house belonging to her sister Bhagrathy Lucky. She added that the dog kennel was also destroyed. Checks with the Met Office yesterday revealed that what occured in Piarco yesterday was gusty winds associated with heavy showers. Newsday was told that members of the public often mistate the gusty winds with tornadoes.