The community of Mt Pleasant, Tobago, was left in mourning yesterday after one of its favoured senior citizens, landlord James Morris, was found chopped to death in his home. According to one of his tenants, TV6 reporter Elizabeth Williams, Morris, 67, was found lying in his bed with several chop wounds about his neck, hand and body shortly before 9 am yesterday. In an interview with the media, a distraught Williams said she realized something was wrong when he failed to turn off his lights after the sunrise.
“In terms of his lights, they remained on and it was after seven, so I called out to him. There was no answer,” Williams said between tears. “I called his cell phone, I called his home phone and he was not answering and I said something has to be wrong, because if he goes to Trinidad or if he does something I would know because he would tell me … I called one of his friends from T&TEC and when she came she found him on the bed.”
Williams said the scene of the murder was gruesome and she was puzzled as to who would have committed the act, since Morris was well loved by everyone in the community. In fact, she said because of this he was affably known as “Mr Mt Pleasant”. “He had chop wounds on his neck.
Apparently he tried to block one of the shots so there was a chop wound on his hand and blood was on the ceiling, on the bed and on the ground … it is very hard because he was the best landlord I ever knew, it is very sad with what happened to him today,” she said. Police said robbery may have been the motive for the killing, as Morris’s room was ransacked, money was missing and pieces of his trademark jewelry, including rings and chains, were missing.
Morris was a People’s National Movement supporter, an ardent caller to various television and radio talk shows and a building contractor. He was the father of three children. Relatives said yesterday they do not know what would have prompted the act, as he was known to be a giving individual who contributed to various schools, community events, charitable and youth organizations.
Morris’s brother told the media that he tried to convince his sibling to install CCTV cameras on his property, but he did not heed his call. Area Representative for Carnbee/Mt Pleasant Ancil Dennis, who was also at the scene of the crime yesterday, said via a Facebook post that he was saddened by the news of Morris’s death “This sad news is unbearable. First the sudden death of a member of staff last Saturday. Now I'm hearing about the murder of my good friend, James “Mr Mt Pleasant” Morris, in the heart of my electoral district.
Lord we need you. My condolences to the family and friends of the deceased,” he said. District Medical Officer Dr. Stanley Ojiko viewed the body and ordered it removed to the Scarborough Mortuary. Police are yet to detain a suspect. Members of the Tobago Homicide Bureau are continuing investigations.