Cops probe cattle farmer’s death

Senior Multimedia Reporter

radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt

Relatives of cattle farmer Telfer Agard responding to reports of a fire at his wooden house on Thursday arrived to find his bloated, decomposed body. He had been dead for three days and all 23 of his cattle were missing.

The 56-year-old farmer had been living a secluded life in a bushy pasture off Lammie Trace, Morne Diablo, Penal. He returned to Trinidad 13 years ago after leaving the United States due to family issues.

Police said that around 6:30 pm on Thursday, officers responded to reports of a fire at his home, a 12-foot by 20-foot board house that had no electricity or water. When they arrived, they found the house engulfed in flames. Agard’s body was found about 20 feet away, lying face down in a bushy area.

His sister, Misca Agard, was the first to see the body. She said she was at home when her sister called to say Agard’s home was on fire.

When she arrived at the house, located two kilometres off a bushy track, she began looking for her brother thinking he was probably trapped in the burning house.

“We did not see him, so we thought if he wasn’t in the house, he was probably in the bush with the cattle. Then I heard a humming sound like bees or flies, and when I turned around, there was a stench. I thought someone had killed cattle here,” she recalled.

It was then she saw something black lying on the ground.

“When I looked, I saw my brother with one side of a slipper, swollen and buck naked. I said, ‘Oh God, someone killed my brother,’” she wept.

Misca said it was not the first time her brother had faced violence.

“He lived by himself, away from people. He had his little animals and slept in a hammock. They beat him already inside there,” she said, adding that he had a habit of speaking his mind but never interfered with anyone.

Before the fire, Agard had been taking care of himself and his cattle. However, some of his cattle had gone missing the night before. Her sons and their friends have been searching the bushes, hoping to recover them, but none have been found.

Some time ago, someone accused Agard of owing $2,000 because his cattle had damaged a cornfield.

“When he got there, it was only 30 heads of corn, so why do they want $2,000 for that? ” Misca said.

She added that her brother was involved in a land dispute.

“We do not know if that had anything to do with what happened. We just don’t know,” she said.

Anyone with information on Agard’s death can contact Crime Stoppers at 800-TIPS.

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