(Trinidad Guardian) Autopsies on the bodies of the Penal triple murder victims revealed that their throats were slit.
The pathologist found that Wazir Mohammed, 57, who operated a scrap iron and used truck parts business at his home, was also shot in the chest.
Police said while they had no clear motive for the crime which has sent shockwaves throughout the rural community, it did not appear robbery was linked to the gruesome crime.
Mohammed’s wife, Shelly-Ann Ragoonanan, 43 and his uncle, Nazim, 52, were also killed in the attack which police believe occurred since last Sunday.
The cause of their deaths were confirmed after post mortem examinations at the Forensic Science Centre in St James on Friday.
The decomposing bodies were discovered on Thursday at about 3 pm at their home at Clarke Road in Penal. The couple’s young children —a three-year-old girl and an eight-month-old baby boy—were rescued from the home by their elder brother who went to check on his parents.
The three-year-old girl and her eight-month-old brother were found soaked in blood.
Speaking with Guardian Media at the FSC, Ragoonanan’s grandfather Dipraj, 72, said he cried uncontrollably when he saw the children.
He said the two children were starving and dehydrated when they were rescued.
“They were given IV fluids at the San Fernando General Hospital…we left there late last night because they were seeing about them.”
Police at the scene on Thursday said the children appeared to be well-fed and relatively clean leading to suspicions that someone else was in the house with them after the murders.
“The little girl does call me Nana and she told me Nana, Nana I trying to wake up mummy for tea but she not waking up…my heart broke…I start to cry. If you see them state…the clothes mess up with blood and stuff…their hands and faces,” Dipraj said.
Dipraj said both children were warded at the hospital as they were very weak and their health needed to be under constant observation for the next few days.
The horrific discovery was made by Ragoonanan and Wazir’s older son Vishard Mohammed, 21.
Dipraj said there was still no motive as to why they were all killed.
He said while he did not have much to do with Ragoonanan’s husband and his family, he described his granddaughter as a kind-hearted person.
“She was really a good person…very quiet…they just would drop her off by me and come back for her. She never worked too as she had no cause to…her husband came from a money family.”
Dipraj said he accompanied Vishard to the house after Vishard complained to him that he failed on numerous times to contact his parents.
“When we went, the gate was locked and the boy jumped the wall and went in the house…the door was open and that’s when he saw the bodies rotting and the children among the bodies… My heart broke…I started to cry to see the children in the state they were in,” Dipraj said.
Dipraj said he is hoping and praying for justice.
“I am a Hindu and I pray a lot…God is love and God will answer my prayers. I will get to know why my granddaughter was killed and for what.”
Investigating officers returned to the crime scene on Friday to carry out extensive searches and to collect any evidence that may assist in helping solve the case.