RELATIVES of a mother and son murdered over two years ago, along with a neighbour whom they took in, want to bury their loved ones, but their bodies have not been released from the Forensic Science Centre.
Speaking with the media at the centre at Barbados Road, Port of Spain, brother and sister Michael and Cindy Farrell say after almost two and a half years, they just want closure.
Fighting back tears, Cindy said: “There is no closure. We need closure. Not only for me, but also for the rest of the whole family.
"We can’t move on with our lives. There is nothing we can do. We can’t bury them. We need closure and we need justice also.
“This is a horrible way for somebody who is innocent to die, and it is wearing on us that we not even getting the bodies. Two and a half years! Somebody needs to give us answers on what is really taking place.”
On February 28, 2020, police and fire officers went to a burning house at Petrotrin Quarters in Guapo. After outing the blaze, they found the bodies of 69-year-old Ceslyn “Linda” Farrell, her son Patrick, 48, and friend Seycelles Hannah, 41, burnt beyond recognition.
[caption id="attachment_968280" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Ceslyn Linda Farrell, 69 -[/caption]
Their autopsy reports said they had been chopped and stabbed to death and their house set afire.
Michael said just after the murders the pandemic hit, and he understood and accepted that there would be some delays – but 29 months was not what he expected.
“I find they take too long for us to retrieve the remains of my brother and my mother. I find this system is dragging this thing too long. The process is too long and overbearing.
"The latest information I have is that I have to register a late death and that will take two weeks.”
He said he began his quest at the San Fernando branch of Legal Affairs and was referred to the Point Fortin branch. At Point Fortin, the registrar fell ill and he had to wait for her health to improve. After she died he was referred back to San Fernando.
There the process had to restart with his making an appointment.
“After I had given a sample of my DNA, they said they sent it abroad to process. That was taking too long and eventually we reached out to the media.
"After about a month they called me back and told me that I have to do over the DNA (sampling). And that is where we got a little advancement.”
DNA samples needed to be taken to confirm the identity of the victims because they were burnt beyond recognition.
He called on those in authority to assist in expediting the final paperwork, which he said is supposed to take two weeks. He recalled that less than a month after the killing, he gave a sample of DNA along with a relative of Hannah’s.
“This year, in February, I came and do over the DNA (sampling). They said, going on their words, there were no results from the first time. I don't know what happened to the first set of results, so I had to do it over.
"After I found they were taking too long I came to Forensic and they said they had to wait
