Three weeks before she was hacked to death, Siparia mother of four Rachael Logan heeded a pastor's advice and reconciled with the suspect, said a close relative. Logan’s mutilated body was discovered in her bedroom on Friday morning by her two sons, ages 27 and nine.
It is believed that she and the suspect had an argument at her Quarry Village home on Thursday night in which she accused him of infidelity. She was chopped several times.
The suspect, a Jamaican national, was found hiding in the bushes with a rope and cutlass. It is believed that he was going to end his life. Describing their relationship as a "bad living," Logan’s father, Francis Sinanan said the suspect was jealous. He said they had a turbulent relationship and would frequently break up and make up. A close female relative who did not want to be named said Logan, 46, ended the relationship and put the man out of the house about three weeks ago.
"The pastor told her to reconcile...and take him back and work things out and in three weeks, look what happen. She was in counselling in the church for her marriage but she had put him out because she sees that they could not make because he always jealousing her. Look what happen now."
She said the police promised to arrange for Logan’s nine-year-old son to receive counselling.
"Nobody coping good. That was a real shock to everybody."
She said Logan was a quiet person and she did not discuss in detail with her relatives the problems in her relationship. "She never used to meddle and interfere and if she had little problems she would keep it to herself."
But, she said Logan would confide in and seek advice from the pastor. The family are yet to finalise funeral arrangements as the autopsy is expected to be performed on Wednesday at the Forensic Science Centre.
Meanwhile, the International Women's Resource Network (IWRN) is again appealing to observers to report incidents of domestic violence rather than dismiss them as "lovers' squabbles."
In a press release, IWRN’s president Adriana Sandrine Rattan said, "The IWRN is again appealing to relatives of victims of domestic violence to STOP treating relationship squabbles as passing moments of 'lovers' quarrels' and instead seek help."
She said that in 95 per cent of domestic violence fatalities that occurred from 2018 to date, the relatives were aware of what was happening in those relationships. Rattan also made a special appeal to relatives of potential perpetrators of domestic violence to "please advise them to seek help and walk away." She encouraged families experiencing domestic turbulence to contact the IWRN at 268-6078 or visit their Facebook page.