Barbados Today

PORT OF SPAIN –– An Arima man granted bail on Wednesday after being charged with a sexual offence, was killed at his home yesterday, in what police believe was an act of revenge.

According to police, around 2 p.m. Baliram Ramoutar, 43, of Temple Village, Blanchisseuse Road, Arima, was sitting in his gallery when a man walked up to him and shot him.

Ramoutar collapsed in the gallery and died. Police said apart from the sexual offence matter, Ramoutar was not knownto be involved in any criminal activity.

He is the second man to be murdered at his home within 24 hours.

According to police, Virgil Moe, 47, of St John Street, East Dry River, was at his home around 9:45 p.m. Wednesday night when residents heard gunshots and later found the port worker dead. Police said Moe was not known to be involved in any criminal activity and had no information about a possible motive.

Speaking with the media at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, Moe’s relatives said he was not a violent man or had been involved in any confrontation with anyone that would suggest why he was killed.

They said that nothing from the man’s home was stolen and since he lived alone, there was no way the killers could have mistaken him for someone else.

A female friend of Moe, Brenda James, said he was a jovial and outspoken person who was always talking and making jokes with people.

“He was in his towel, when someone called him out of his home. They used to call him ‘Yankee’ because he went to the US as a child and returned with an accent. He loved music.

“I live nearby and I heard when the gunshots ring out. My message to the killers is that it is time for them to stop the senseless killing. It is only when it reach home they will really know how much it hurts,” James added.

Moe’s daughter and only child Kimberly Moe said her father’s killing was a shock to the family and community.

“This is shocking because we never thought he would die by the gun. He never lived by the gun. He never held a gun in his whole life. We doubting is a case of mistaken identity because they called him out of his house,” Moe said.

In another unrelated killing police are still searching for a motive in the shooting death of Lutchman Ramgarib, 27, who was killed on Tuesday night.

Police said his killer/killers waited for him to exit a nearby minimart before ambushing him and killing him.

Police said Ramgarib, who lived at Sooknanan Trace, Aranguez, had just stepped out of the business place around 8:30 p.m. when residents said they heard gunshots outside the grocery at John Dulan Street, Aranguez. Police said he was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Complex and died around 9:10 p.m.

The three killings and that of a 27-year-old Siparia man have pushed the murder toll to 67 for the year, 19 more than the corresponding period last year.