At first the double murder of a father and daughter was linked to an ongoing land dispute but police are now investigating a theory that the woman, a victim of a gang rape, was the main target to be silenced.
Investigators from the Homicide Bureau said they had information that the order to kill came from prison.
The family of the victims would only say: “There is another angle to this...they only saying land dispute but there’s something else and the police knows.”
According to police sources, Sarah’s attackers were subsequently arrested and charged with several offences.
Investigations said yesterday the matter had “reached a sensitive stage.”
Police said around 10 pm on Wednesday, a gunman leaped over the wall of the family’s home at Williams Street, El Socorro and killed Elliot Veerasammy, 62, and his 32-year-old daughter, Sarah.
According to a family friend, Sarah, who had a mental disability, was described as “slow” and had been gang raped about a decade ago.
The friend described Sarah as a “loving, kind and caring person.”
Her mother died of cancer about 11 years ago and her uncle, Rodney, had been sentenced to serve four years in jail in 2008 after breaching a restraining order and assaulted her father.
The rivalry between the brothers stemmed from a dispute over the properties in San Juan left by their parents.
Veerasammy was an A-class welder and a wire bender and did work for several Carnival bandleaders and others in the artform.
An autopsy report revealed that Sarah was shot once to the head while her father was shot multiple times also to the head and upper body. The autopsies were conducted at the Forensic Science Centre in St James.
Both father and daughter were at their home at Williams Street when a gunman stormed into the house firing at least 20 gunshots.
Their bodies were found in the living room of the house just behind the main front door to enter.
Speaking with the Guardian Media on Thursday, a neighbour said he heard the volley of gunshots and when he looked around he saw the gunman jumping over Veerasammy’s front gate and escaping in a waiting silver car.
The neighbour described Veerasammy as a “quiet man.”
“He would never interfere with anyone, always quiet and humble.”
Initially, police officers believed that the incident was linked to a domestic dispute over land between Verasammy and a close male relative.
However, new evidence suggests a second theory which investigators are actively pursuing.
In January, Veerasammy’s brother Rodney was sentenced to four years in prison for assaulting Elliot in 2008 by Justice Hayden St Clair-Douglas.
According to the facts of the case, Rodney had breached a restraining order and barged into Veerasammy’s house and assaulted him.