(Trinidad Express) Three members of the Defence Force have been detained for questioning into the kidnapping and murder of 34-year-old Teddy Sylvester.
The three men were aiding a joint team of homicide and anti-kidnapping officers in their investigation up to last night.
They were held at the Defence Force headquarters in Chaguaramas yesterday morning and their vehicles were searched.
The Express was told that investigators received key intelligence which linked the three men to the kidnapping. It is suspected that Sylvester may have been dropped off in another location by the men and killed by another person.
Sources close to the case told the Express that the three men are all members of the security escort detail for the Chief of Defence Staff.
A statement from the Defence Force yesterday said the men were detained in relation to “the death of a member of the public who was kidnapped”.
The Defence Force is assisting police “in the conduct of its investigations and will continue to do so as required”, the statement added.
No further details were given because of the “sensitivity of ongoing investigations”, the Defence Force stated.
Taken by ‘police’
Sylvester was kidnapped by men dressed in what appeared to be police tactical uniforms in Maraval on January 9.
Around 3 p.m., Sylvester, of Cameron Hill, Maraval, was in his garden near his home with a friend when a black Nissan X-Trail pulled up next to them.
Four people wearing what looked like police tactical uniforms exited the vehicle.
The suspects grabbed Sylvester and placed him in the SUV and drove off.
They left the other man behind.
He notified Sylvester’s relatives that the man had been taken by “police”.
However, when relatives made checks at police stations in the district, there was no record of Sylvester being detained.
The following day his grandmother made an official report at the Maraval Police Station.
On January 13, Sylvester’s body was found off Cadet Road, Petit Valley.
An autopsy determined he had been murdered.
