Crime Stoppers is offering a $1 million cash reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the shooting death of Amalgamated Estate Corporal Anthony Joseph.
Joseph, a father of five, was killed on Sunday night by gunmen as he and another guard responded to an alarm triggered at the Berger Paints warehouse compound, Sea Lots.
A security guard with the company for the past 36 years, Joseph was paid glowing tributes by his colleagues who said he went above and beyond the call of duty. He is expected to buried on Monday at the Malabar RC Church. His former wife, Arlene Joseph, 49, said she and her children would attend the funeral as they too had a right to pay their final respects.
On Monday, there was a dispute at the Forensic Centre, St James, between the dead man’s sister and his current wife, Joan Cook, over custody of the body. Arlene said she was not involved in the fight but tried to be a mediator.
"But I feel very hurt we did not get the body because we never had any animosity. We got divorced under mutual grounds. We just could not live together any more and we said let us part our separate ways.
"If I call him to do anything he is always there for us. I cannot say a bad word about him. My children are also devastated by all of this," Arlene added.
Cook was eventually allowed to claim the body. Arlene said she and Joseph divorced nine years ago but had always maintained a very cordial relationship.
"We got married and we have three children. Up to Sunday morning before his death we spoke on the phone. Anything happen he would call my phone... all hours of the morning he would be calling my phone when he had any problems," Arlene said.
She said Joseph also shared a very close relationship with his children as he kept in touch with them daily. Regarding the divorce she said there was a cloud of skepticism over the matter.
"The magistrate said we were divorced but we never went back to collect the documents so I am not even sure the divorce even went through," Arlene, who was married to Joseph for 14 years, said.
Crime Stoppers hopeful
For the year to date $160,000 has been paid by Crime Stoppers for tips which have led to arrests and successful convictions, said Garland Samuel, executive manager of Crime Stoppers T&T. He said as a "thank you" to tipsters the organisation, from now until Carnival, would be doubling money that would be paid for any particular offence.
"For example if somebody gets $1,000 for a particular offence from now until the end of Carnival, Crime Stoppers would be paying $2,000," Samuel said. Asked how a particular reward was determined, Samuel said it was up to the board to decide.
He added: "In some instances, as well, some people will ask us to assist them so in some cases we will place rewards based on requests that have been made but the board will sit and decide generally where the rewards will fall.
"Normally the reward is $10,000. If a request comes in and the board feels there is a need to highlight a specific offence the board of directors will then make that determination."
He said calls regarding Samuel's murder would be directed to Crime Stoppers' call centre and that information would then be passed on to the police immediately. He hoped the public would share information so that Joseph's killers would face swift justice.
On the 2013 murder of estate superintendent Bert Clarke and the million-dollar robbery which occurred along the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway when a Sentinel Security Service cash delivery van was ambushed while en-route from Port-of-Spain to Piarco Airport, Samuel said tips were received and that information was also passed on to the police.
A 31-year-old gang leader who was held in connection with the murder was subsequently released.
"Our role is to get the information and provide it in a way that is anonymous so that we will never know who is calling. This is as far as Crime Stoppers goes," Samuel said.
He said in Clarke's case to date there was no conviction so no reward had been paid.