(Trinidad Express) `Huegla de Melandro Ismael’, which translates to ‘Strike by criminal Ismael’, was on a sign found next to the body of a man who had been buried recently, then dug up, doused with a flammable liquid and burnt sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning in Sangre Grande.
Up to last night, the police were unaware of the exact time the bizarre incident took place but said it was not the first time that a body had been dug up and set on fire recently.
Police said the body was that of Kevon Lucas, 35, alias Shrek. He was very well known to the police and was wanted for extortion, robbery and shooting with intent, among other allegations.
Lucas’ bullet-riddled body and that of his girlfriend, Sherayne Salandy, 37, were found in a Hyundai Elantra that was left idling along Boodoo Highway in Sangre Grande last week Sunday.
Police said the couple’s car was forced off the road by their killers. When they stopped, gunmen shot them multiple times, killing them on the spot.
In January last year, gunmen made an attempt on Lucas’ life when they ambushed him, his then-girlfriend and others at a house at Blake Avenue, Sangre Grande.
Lucas and other adults were shot and survived, but a six-year- old girl, Kylie Meloney, was killed in the incident.
Early on Saturday, a 55-second video appeared on social media. It showed Lucas’ body, which had already been removed from the grave at Turure Cemetery, and a liquid being poured over it.
Those filming the video were careful not to show their faces and another video showed the body after it had been burnt.
Next to the burnt body was the sign in Spanish.
In mid-March 2021, two men, Sterling Raymond and Kevin ‘Chappy’ Edwards, were shot and killed by police during an exchange of gunfire in Chaguanas.
Both men were buried, but following their funerals approximately a week later, Raymond’s body was dug up at Longdenville Cemetery. A short video of the incident was shared on social media which showed someone throwing shredded paper on the body before setting it ablaze.
Earlier, on March 12, 2021, the grave of another man, murder victim Jaron ‘Kiteman’ Calliste, was dug up and his coffin set ablaze at an unidentified cemetery.