An 88-year-old bed-ridden man who once rented out his home to a church died in a house fire on Monday night, in what police suspect may have been a murderer’s attempt to conceal their wrongdoing.
According to police reports, around 10 pm on Monday a relative of Ferdinand Felix was at the pensioner’s two-storey home at Wellington Street, St Joseph, when a loud explosion was heard coming from the apartment of his tenant Krissy Brewster. A fire started and quickly engulfed the entire structure.
Felix lived alone upstairs the house while Brewster, a 30-year-old Dominican national, had been renting the downstairs apartment for some years. She was a mother of one, residents said.
Police believe Brewster was killed and the killer then set her apartment on fire to cover the act. An autopsy today will confirm the cause of death.
Residents said after the fire began they came together to try and rescue the elderly man. One resident said Felix was seen holding on to the burglar proofing of his home as residents tried unsuccessfully to rescue him. He added that Felix held onto the burglar proofing until he was overwhelmed by smoke and collapsed. The next they saw of him was when his body was being removed from the house by caretakers.
At first police, fire officials and residents assumed only Felix was at home, but after the blaze was put out they found Brewster’s body downstairs in a room. The body was partially burnt and had what investigators suspect were marks of violence.
One man, whose church once rented from Felix some 21 years ago and celebrated his 50th birthday there, described the pensioner as a “good man.” He said Felix lived in the area for as long as he could remember and was always helpful.
Another neighbour said Felix temporarily housed another man who also stayed with relatives close by.
The two deaths came several hours after another St Joseph man, Kern Exeter, was murdered two corners away from Felix’s house.
When the T&T Guardian visited the area yesterday, one resident reminisced about how St Joseph was once labelled as the quiet city. He added that the latest killing and another one a month ago, along with the fiery deaths, was now giving the community a bad name. An elderly woman who said she lived in the area all her life said the community was not like it used to be. However, she refused to give her name, saying, “Next thing is me next.”