(Trinidad Express) The village of Carapo, Arima, was thrown into shock and mourning yesterday when two sisters were chopped to death and then their bodies burnt.
The attackers torched the women’s home before fleeing in what police said was an on-going land dispute.
The incident occurred around 4 a.m. at Griffith Drive, off Pascall Lane, Carapo.
The murder victims were Kim Griffith, 34, and Salisha Griffith, 28.
Police believe Kim was the main target and that Salisha was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Salisha had three children, two boys and a girl, who were staying with other relatives when the incident occurred.
Police said that around 3.55 a.m. Arima police received a report of screams being heard from the women’s small wooden home but by the time they rushed over to the scene the house was already ablaze.
Police said two suspects, one aged 24 and the other 20, reportedly broke down the front door to the house, barged in and immediately attacked the women by chopping them about their bodies.
As the women lay bleeding on the floor the men then torched the house and ran out.
Residents who heard the screams saw one of the suspects fleeing and grabbed him and later handed him over to the police.
It was after he was questioned that the other suspect was detained at his home, close to the Griffiths’ home.
The two were being questioned by police up to last night.
“Mad Max”, who was a friend of Kim, told the Express this was not the first time Kim was attacked.
“Some years ago, someone burnt their house and I told Kim not to go back there,” he said.
“In fact I begged her not to go back there but she did not listen to me,” he lamented.
“Mad Max” explained a few years ago Kim’s relatives left her a parcel of land and because of this some people in the area became jealous of her.
He said when she opened a parlour there about three years ago some of the residents became even more jealous. “She was very ambitious and hardworking and the thing is, she was doing very well,” Mad Max said.
Marvin Griffith, the women’s brother, told the Express his sisters’ bodies were burnt beyond recognition.
He said many of their memorabilia, including family photos, had been destroyed by the fire.
Up to last night the murder tally stood at 189, according to an Express tally, while last year up to June 19 last year the toll was 182.
Homicide Bureau officers are continuing investigations.
