By Andrea Downer/Glenroy Sinclair, Staff ReportersA 44-YEAR-OLD man who went berserk in the quiet community of Recourse, Halls Delight, St. Andrew, about 7:30 on Tuesday night, chopped and killed three young children in a night of horror in which three adults were also injured.
About eight hours later, the man, identified as Caston Haase, who had fled into nearby hills, was himself chopped to death by an angry mob which had waited in ambush for him. He was chopped to pieces.
The children a four-month-old baby girl, her seven-year-old sister Peta-Gayle Patterson and their seven-year-old cousin, Brenda Dinnal, were identified as the nieces of the attacker.
STATE OF THE INJURED
Those injured are Hermalyne Taylor, mother of Peta-Gayle and the four-month-old baby; Mildred Willis and Tantan Hibbert, 38, who were admitted to the University Hospital of the West Indies in critical condition. Willis' right hand, which was severed, was later picked up by her son, Dennis Walker. Her dentures were also chopped out. Reports are that one of Taylor's legs was almost severed while Hibbert was chopped all over his body.
Haase reportedly attacked family members with a machete following an argument, after he refused to take the medication his doctor had prescribed for him on Monday.
Information reaching The Gleaner is that Haase frequently threatened his relatives. Prior to Tuesday night, his threats to kill were never carried out although he had once been prosecuted for wounding. This time around he reportedly began sharpening his machete early on Tuesday, while issuing threats. Nobody paid him much attention until it was too late.
When a Gleaner team arrived in the rural district about midnight yesterday, undertakers from Madden's Funeral Home had already recovered the badly multilated body of the infant, who was chopped to death while cradled in the arms of her fleeing mother.
ARGUMENT
Sixty-year-old Emily Taylor, Haase's mother, told The Gleaner that her son had always suffered from epilepsy and that she had taken him to the doctor on Monday, when he was given medication. His sister, Herma-lyne, had just picked up her baby and walked out of the house after an argument she had with Haase, who refused to take his medication. He attacked her and the baby.
The police have now launched a search for members of the mob who chopped him to death. "They committed a crime and it must be investigated," said Deputy Superintendent Meveral Smith, Crime Officer for St. Andrew North.
A lack of witnesses has so far have prevented the investigators from collecting statements and identifying the persons who were involved in the death of the 44-year-old man.
Reports are that the police have launched an investigation into the medical history of Mr. Haase and have questioned at least one doctor who was treating him. The lawmen are expected to continue questioning the St. Andrew-based doctor today.
