(Trinidad Guardian) A love triangle involving an estranged couple yesterday ended in tragedy, after the wife’s younger lover entered her marital home at Las Cuevas and killed them both before he fled into the forest.
Shireen Valdez, 41, had been warned by her jilted lover that she only had four days to live earlier this week.
Scared after he kicked in her front door on Monday and issued the threat, after saying he had emptied his bank account and was prepared to die, Shireen was allegedly too scared to report the incident because her lover was friendly with community law enforcement officers.
Valdez and her husband, Hollis, 40, were both shot dead at their Rincon Road, Las Cuevas home between 7.30 am and 8 am yesterday.
The suspect, who worked as a security guard, was in hiding up to last night after a police manhunt came up empty-handed.
A close friend and colleague of the couple, who were both lifeguards, said they last heard from Shireen, the mother of a 14-year-old girl, around 7.15 am yesterday. This was when Shireen forwarded her the threatening text messages she had received from the suspect, who vowed to kill her and her husband, with whom she had recently reconciled.
Relatives of the couple revealed they had been having problems for some time and it was only six weeks ago that they decided to take some time apart. During this period, it was claimed that Shireen had begun openly seeing the suspect. However, she reportedly recently decided to return to her husband.
However, the close friend said the clandestine relationship began four years ago.
Hollis’ father, Victor Valdez, 73, confirmed his son had returned to the family home six weeks ago, adding while they were aware of the couple’s issues, they had opted not to get involved.
Stunned as he stood outside their house and watched the crime scene being processed and the bodies removed, Victor spoke softly as he said, “He and me…we was real good. I had now get up, around 8.15, when a neighbour called me and told us what going on…I ain’t even eat yet. I was waiting on my wife to get and make breakfast…”
Saying he last saw Hollis on Thursday before he left to attend the funeral of Meshach Gibson, who was killed by police on July 19, Victor said he didn’t think anything was amiss when he awoke and saw Hollis’s bed had not been slept in.
One man said he limed with the couple up to 10 pm on Thursday and when he asked Shireen where she would be sleeping for the night, as she had confided about being afraid to stay at her house, she jokingly told him, “‘Don’t worry, Hollis there to protect me’.”
As news of the deaths spread quickly yesterday, relatives, friends and villagers flocked to the house.
Drinking and smoking as they reminisced about happier times with the couple, both young and old cried and screamed as the undertakers removed the bodies.
The emotional villagers then turned their anger on the police officers present, as they demanded search parties be organised to hunt for the suspect, who was armed.
Claiming the suspect had planned the murders carefully, one man said after shooting the couple, the suspect dropped off lunch for his elderly father, who lives several houses away, before packing a bag with supplies, including food, water and clothing and heading into the nearby forest.
Despite hearing a single gunshot around 9 am, close to 40 villagers who combed the surrounding brush did not find a body, leading them to believe the suspect was alive and had used the gunshot to make people believe he had taken his own life.
Noting that he was armed and dangerous, the villagers urged the police to act to apprehend the suspect, as they believed he could return and hurt others in the close-knit community.
Hollis’s father said the well-being of the couple’s daughter would now become the responsibility of the family.
Extending condolences to the family, acting Police Commissioner McDonald Jacob said this underscored the urgent need for greater conflict resolution and family/coping skills awareness.
He said the TTPS was committed to reaching persons through counselling, education and promotional efforts, in order to reduce relationship-motivated killings.
He also thanked the residents for joining hands with the police to search for the suspect and he called on them for their continued support.
