Woman, 89, viciously killed in Siparia home

An 89-year-old woman had her head bashed in at her Siparia home yesterday morning, by a man who relatives and neighbours claim appeared to be “demon possessed.” Police found parts of Grenada-born Ann Corrion’s skull in her yard, allegedly thrown there by the man, after he killed her. The woman’s pet parrot, allegedly ripped apart by the man, was also discovered in pieces next to her body.

Neighbours said the man who came to visit Corrion, fondly called “Tanty Ivy”, on Friday, spent the night, killed a chicken and ate parts of it raw. On arrival at the house at Railway Road, police found the suspect standing in the yard bareback and covered in blood. He was not speaking and appeared disoriented. The police could not say whether he was on drugs or mentally unstable. He was taken to the Siparia Health Facility where he was treated for minor injuries.

Both the man and his common-law wife, one of Corrion’s relatives, had been living with the elderly woman for some time but moved out of her home four months ago. Corrion lived in the upstairs portion of her house with Joel Eligon, 28, who she raised from a baby, and her tenants lived downstairs. Eligon was not at home when the incident took place shortly after 8 am.

A neighbour said, “He killed a chicken and he was in front in the yard eating it raw. Then he got up and went upstairs. I heard the two girls (from next door) who were upstairs with her start to scream. “The girls said that he knocked her out in the gallery. They said he sat on her chest and was bashing her head with a stone and he took her parrot and rip it up.

“Corrion did not even have time to scream. He started pelting parts of her skull and brain in the yard.” The man’s relatives said he had a history of acting bizarre and had been acting up for the past few weeks. They were going to call the police on Friday but Corrion begged for him, even praying with him. Recalling an incident last Christmas when the man lit a fire in Corrion’s gallery to burn demons, they took him to a spiritual woman who said that someone had “put a light” on him.

Corrion’s murder left the entire community in sadness, as residents described her as a kind-hearted, loving woman who provided food and shelter to everyone. “I told her that is her kindness that will kill her and not even weeks after, her kindness killed her. She did not deserve that,” said her friend Kim Quashie, co-ordinator of the Siparia Sporting Academy.

Quashie, the former trainer of the late boxing champion Gizelle Salandy, said even Salandy stayed by her as a child. Corrion’s cousin Joseph Mc Gregor said Corrion, a mother of two, came here in the late 1950s to audition for a movie production. Sgt Jaggernath of the Siparia Police Station is investigating.