Autopsy shifts 75-year-old’s death to murder probe

Senior Reporter

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What relatives initially believed was a natural death has turned into a murder investigation, following the results of an autopsy of 75-year-old Nardeo Bachan conducted last week.

Bachan, fondly called Bato and Tycoon, a Canadian citizen and father of two, was found dead in his home by relatives on July 20.

Bachan, who lived alone along New Colonial Road, had not been seen for several days.

His brother and sister-in-law, who live next door, picked up a foul stench that morning. The couple rears goats and initially believed the smell might have been one of their animals, which had been missing for a few days.

Later that day, the stench got worse. In an interview yesterday, his sister-in-law, who requested anonymity, recalled, “Our bedroom window is adjacent to his house, so when we opened the window, the smell was worse. I walked downstairs. We just went to check on him because we realised we did not see him for a few days. We just looked through the window and saw him in the bed.”

While the windows of his home were open, the doors were locked. The police were contacted immediately, and they forced the door open. Inside, one of the officers saw blood, but she said the district medical officer indicated that he possibly died from natural causes.

So, when the autopsy revealed he had been stabbed to death, relatives were left stunned.

She lamented, “This is terrible, and it’s so close to our home. We did not hear anything.”

The woman said Bachan lived alone, so they could not determine whether he had been robbed.

“He never told anybody before that anyone broke into his home. He lived a bachelor lifestyle, limed with his friends.”

She recalled that he was always riding his blue bicycle, which was what he was doing when she saw him three days prior to his body being discovered.

In Trinidad, he had worked as a canecutter and planter, but in 1974, he married and moved to Canada, where he had his two sons. In that country, he worked as a courier, taxi driver, and limousine driver.

The grandfather of two and great-grandfather of one moved back to Trinidad less than three years ago and was receiving a pension from Canada. Officers from the Homicide Bureau, Region 3, are investigating.