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MURDERED: Kristin Paul, shot dead on Tuesday. –

MURDERED Penal woman Kristin Paul, 30, lived a dangerous life, a friend of the family told the Newsday on Wednesday.

The friend, who asked not to be identified, said while Paul’s relatives were shocked at her violent end, they were not surprised as they often tried to talk her out of the fast lifestyle she followed.

“Had she listened to us, she would still be alive today. She lived her life dangerously and, well, look how it ended,” the friend said, during an interview at Paul’s home which she shared with her common-law husband Amit Boodoo and their 11-year-old son. Boodoo was chopped to death several weeks ago.

Paul’s relatives refused to speak to Newsday on Wednesday.

With his father and now mother both murdered, the boy is being cared for by relatives of Boodoo at an undisclosed location.

On July 22, Boodoo, 36, a fisherman who was also a businessman, was chopped to death during an altercation at his home at Jaipaulsingh Trace, Penal. Boodoo’s wife witnessed his murder.

“After his death, Kristin said she did not think she was cut out for motherhood and gave up custody of her child to a relative of Amit,” the female friend said.

After the Boodoo murder, police arrested a suspect who was also chopped during that incident.

Paul’s friend said she and her (Paul) family believe Boodoo’s murder may have been drug-related and that Paul continued with that “business” after his killing.

“The two deaths within less than two months of each other have left the Boodoo family living in fear. Although they are not involved in any illegal business, they do not know if they could be next,” the woman said.

Police said that on Tuesday, Paul had asked a relative of Boodoo to accompany her to Clarke Road in Penal to retrieve vehicles owned by her and Boodoo.

The friend said the Boodoo family did not share a close relationship with Paul because of her lifestyle.

However, the relative agreed to accompany Paul to Penal.

Boodoo’s relative later told police that he was part of a convoy of vehicles proceeding north along Mohess Road, Penal, at around 4 pm on Tuesday. Boodoo’s relative said he was in a black Nissan Frontier van while Paul was in a white Toyota Hilux van.

The Frontier experienced mechanical difficulties and both vehicles stopped near Digity Trace in Debe. Boodoo’s relative left and returned a short while with a mechanic.

While Paul was in the driver’s seat of the Frontier and Boodoo’s relative, the mechanic and a third man were at the front of the van, trying to get the engine started, a white Toyota Axio pulled alongside the Frontier.

Police said a slim built man, light brown in complexion and dressed in a long white T-shirt and dark coloured fisher’s hat, exited the Axio and fired several shots inside the Frontier.

As Paul slumped over the steering wheel, bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds, the killer got back into the Axio which sped off. While the mechanic, said to be a Venezuelan, was grazed by one of the bullets, the other two men were not injured. The mechanic was later treated at hospital.

Paul’s body was removed to the Forensic Science Centre, St James for an autopsy.

Penal police and detectives from the Homicide Investigations Bureau (Region III) visited the scene and spoke to several people. CCTV footage was also obtained. The Frontier was later removed to Cumuto for forensic testing. Up to press time, no arrest had been made and investigations are continuing.

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Consumers will pay less for gasoline and kerosene, and more for diesel, effective midnight, Wednesday, September 14.

The retail price of gasoline will be $4.26 per litre, a decrease of 13 cents, while kerosene will cost $2.16 per litre, a saving of 20 cents. Diesel will now sell for $3.94 per litre, which is an increase of 9 cents.

Given the high volatility associated with refined petroleum products, Government capped the retail prices of gasoline and diesel at $4.48 per litre and $4.03 per litre, respectively. The capping is expected to bring some level of predictability to the retail prices, and shield consumers from the full increase of refined petroleum products.

When calculated, the retail prices fell below the cap of gasoline and diesel.

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Past student of the former St John Bosco Boys’ Home in Manchester, Damian Simpson, left many guests teary-eyed following his riveting testimonial about his six-year stay at the home, which is now a vocational training centre.

Speaking at the official opening of the St John Bosco Vocational Training Centre in Hatfield, Manchester, on September 7, Simpson said the experience had taught him love, respect and humility.

He heaped praises on Area Administrator, Sister Susan Frazer, for “lifting me up” when his parents had forsaken him.

“I have learnt the values taught to me then and I am applying them now,” he said, noting that he did not see the things in himself that she saw in him.

Now the Regional Supervisor for the western region of the Progressive Grocers Group’s meat department, Simpson also does training and upliftment with his team members, skills learnt at St John Bosco.

“When I was trained at the butcher shop, I did not know the value of the skill being taught to me, but now I can use it to add value to people’s lives. I have been happily married for the past 18 years; we have three girls and one boy – all under one roof. I have been a homeowner for the past eight years, and I do a little farming because as a man you have to know how to balance things,” Simpson said to loud cheers.

He said being a family man requires responsibility and he was taught by Sister Susan how to be responsible and firm, adding that she always told us: “It’s your ambition that changes your condition.”

Simpson told the current students that they might arrive at the institution in a bad condition, but “… do not let your past determine your future because when you leave here, you will be a product of change, positivity and humility”.

He advised them to love and believe in themselves and they would be the best they could be.

The new St John Bosco Vocational Training Centre and Sister Susan Frazer Educational Complex, located in Hatfield, Manchester. It was officially opened on September 7. (JIS)

Meanwhile, Sister Susan Frazer, the Area Administrator for the Sisters of Mercy in Jamaica, who has been running the institution for 45 years, expressed her satisfaction with the new developments.

She noted that there are four phases to the ongoing developments at the institution and with the first phase now complete, US$650,000 has already been committed for the second phase.

“I have felt the support of rural communities in Jamaica over the years contributing to our success; there are eight members of staff who are past boys, two of whom run two of the major departments of the school – the butcher shop and the catering department,” she said.

She pointed out that although it is no longer a residential facility, some 50 beds have been saved in one dormitory if they should be needed in the future.

“Being a rural girl and having worked in a residential children’s home for almost 50 years, residential children are the centre of my heart,” Sister Susan said.

She added that there are lots of boys in homes and they need an excellent education, so they can leave with their heads held high.

Meanwhile, Jean Lowrie-Chin, Chairman of Digicel Foundation, which financed the project, said it is the mission of St John Bosco to give young people every chance to be equipped to gain employment or launch out on their entrepreneurial journey.

She said the Foundation was happy to participate in the upgrading work at the institution, which includes administrative offices, classrooms, training labs, a new entrance, driveway, outdoor meeting space and parking spaces, at a cost of $40 million.

The institution is a registered independent school operated by the Sisters of Mercy of Jamaica. It has provided training and apprenticeship to rural youth since 2007, in partnership with HEART/NSTA Trust and City and Guilds. Originally a boys-only boarding institution, there are currently 120 students on roll, including girls.

They offer nationally certified programmes from Levels II to III Diplomas in Food Preparation and Culinary Arts, Culinary Arts and Supervision, Barbering, IT and Office Application, Contact Centre Services and Customer Service.

JIS News

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The President of the Imperial Ethiopian World Federation Peter ‘Ras Ipa’ Isaac says Barbados Cultural Ambassador Anthony ‘Gabby’ Carter deserves applause over a controversial poem about the late Queen Elizabeth II.

The poem circulated on social media after the Queen’s death on September 8.

Among other things, it referred to the late monarch as ‘a quiet wicked woman’ who inherited millions of pounds from the gains of slavery yet allowed each colony to wallow in poverty. 

Entitled ‘Good Riddance To Rubbish’ the work has become the subject of controversy.

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Former Barbados High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Guy Hewitt strongly condemned it.

According to Barbados Today, Hewitt said it was in poor taste and had brought ‘dishonour’ to Barbados.

The publication also quoted the former diplomat as saying that the poem displayed Gabby’s ignorance of the role of a constitutional monarchy, the history of the Commonwealth of Nations, and the late Queen’s role in it.

But Saint Lucia’s Peter ‘Ras Ipa’ Isaac has a different view.

“I must agree that Gabby is on point as a Barbados Cultural Ambassador,” Isaac told St Lucia Times.

He declared that the Royal family had benefitted from the African slave trade and had not given up the wealth gained as a result of the suffering of Africans.

According to Isaac, Gabby deserves loud applause for the stand he took in his poem.

“I feel proud of persons like Gabby,” he declared, adding that the Barbadian Calypsonian had exposed the wickedness of slavery and colonialism.

“(The Queen)directly enjoyed the fruits of our labour, the wealth of Africa that she inherited, and the riches of our ancestors,” Isaac declared, adding that there has been no formal apology forthcoming.

And he described the region’s mourning over her death as ‘an extreme form of hypocrisy.’

Gabby has been quoted as saying that he would give up his cultural ambassador designation before he apologises for the poem about Queen Elizabeth II.

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Barbados’ most recent sporting superstars were all smiles under the spotlight with a motorcade today.

With one of the four guests, Amber Joseph arriving last week and Shane Brathwaite unable to make it home at this time, just Sada Williams and Jonathan Jones were received by officials including the Sports Minister on the tarmac today. Joseph then joined the pair to loud cheers of congratulations at the Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) this afternoon by the few locals present.

Medalists Williams, Joseph, and Jones were warmly welcomed by the diehard sports enthusiasts and numerous media personnel that gathered to see them at the start of the motorcade that travelled from the GAIA to Garfield Sobers Gymnasium.

Speaking to Loop News, golden girl, Williams said the reception was “a little bit overwhelming”. The national record holder secured the gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and bronze at the 2022 World Games, making history on both occasions.

Meanwhile, Barbadian cyclist and PanAm triple medalist Joseph, said she felt “fussy” and “special”. Joseph struck gold and won two silver at the Pan American Cycling Championships in August.

Jones, 800 M national record holder, was elated to witness the festivities but expressed he was eager to see his grandmother and give her a good hug as soon as the dust settles.

There were varying reactions from locals on the ground at GAIA to today’s motorcade, with emotions ranging from disappointment to anger. Several locals were disgruntled with the promotion of the national athletes, arguing that today’s event was lacklustre in comparison to when Brathwaite returned home after copping Barbados’ first ever Commonwealth Games medal. On that occasion, it was reported that he was greeted by hundreds when he exited the Arrivals hall. One taxi person said not even the officer conducting traffic at GAIA seemed to be abreast of the festivities as there were some issues with the trailer truck for the motorcade being asked to move and to turn down its music.

Despite the hiccups, seated in three separate Range Rovers, the athletes did still enjoy the thrill of their welcome and all the attention as the motorcade got underway just after 2 pm.

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