Victor Jn Phillip
The body of a man was discovered on a farm in Fond St. Jacques, Soufriere this morning with a single gunshot wound to the head.
The body of Victor Jn Phillip, 65, a farmer from the area, was discovered at about 5:00 a.m.
The victim’s son, Keran Jn Phillip told St. Lucia News Online (SNO) that his father would usually return home around 4:30 p.m. everyday from his farm.
However, after realising that Jn Phillip did not return, Keran’s mother called him and his brothers to alert them and asked that they go and check on their father.
The brothers formed groups with the help of neighbours in the community and journeyed up the forest, to the farm, which is located about one hour away from Jn Phillips’ home.
After two hours into the search, there were still no signs of him. Keran said they decided to end the search after it was getting dark. The police was then contacted. They promised to conduct another search.
“When they got there this morning, they found him lying down between a tree with his cutlass on his belly and his head open, with a gunshot to his head,” Keran told SNO.
The distraught man said his brother had heard a gunshot in the area around the same time their father went missing. Keran said his brother did not bother to check on his father then because they would usually hear gunshots in the area.
“Guys around Choiseul and Saltibus would cross over the river searching for weed because several times my father would say some guys walking around the area,” he told SNO.
Keran said his father would usually tell him that two or three men would be roaming the area and could have possibly planted marijuana, but he never interfered with them or confronted them.
He believes that his father may have seen something that he probably shouldn’t have and the men decided to kill him. The family is hoping that someone could come forward and say something.
Keran described his father as a jovial person and a hardworking individual. Both Jn Phillip and his son spent the entire Sunday travelling in the city.
Jn Phillip leaves to mourn five sons and two daughters.