Cattle farmer’s body found near his burning house

Photo: Telfer Agard and his sister Misca Agard in happier times.

RADHICA DE SILVA

Senior Multimedia Reporter

radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Telfer Agard, a cattle farmer whose decomposed body was found near his burned home in Morne Diablo, Penal.

Agard, who had been living a secluded life in a bushy pasture off Lammie Trace, returned to Trinidad after leaving the United States due to family issues.

Police said around 6:30 pm on Thursday, officers responded to reports of a fire at his residence, a 12-foot by 20-foot board house without electricity or water connections. Upon arrival, they discovered the house fully engulfed in flames. Agard’s body was found about 20 feet away, lying face down in a bushy area.

Speaking to Guardian Media, Agard’s sister Misca Agard expressed confusion and sorrow over her brother’s death.

Recounting the ordeal, Misca said her sister called her to say Agard’s home was on fire.

She said when she arrived at the scene she prayed that her brother was not caught in the fire.

“We did not see him and we thought he probably was in the bush with the cattle. Then I heard a humming sound like bees or flies, and when I turned around, there was a stink scent. I thought someone killed cattle here,” she recalled.

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

“When I watch, I see my brother with one side of a slipper, swell out and buck naked. I say, oh God, someone kill my brother,” she wept.

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

“He living by himself, away from people. He has his little animals, sleeping 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. But Misca also noted that some of his cattle had gone missing the night before.

She said her sons and their friends have been searching the bushes, hoping to recover them but none have been found.

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