Port-of-Spain (Trinidad Express):

A mother was beheaded at her home by a man who twice tried but failed to hang himself after her body was found.

When Rosie Nanan's son came home Saturday night he found the suspected killer dangling by the neck from a rafter at the front of the house. Stephen Gobin cut down the man who said Gobin's mother was in the living room watching television.

Gobin found his mother's remains in a bedroom of the family's home at Jaikaran Trace South, Cungal Road, Barrackpore. Up to late Sunday, the suspect, a 39 -year old construction worker, was on the run in the forest near the village.

Residents Sunday called on police to bring in the air-ship, helicopters and tracker dogs to find the man.

Savatri Rajpaul said: "We have little children living here. No one can go to their gardens. This man has a weapon. He could use it again. What about our protection?" Sonnyboy Gobin said: "The police searched a little. They left, telling us when we find the killer to call them. He is a danger to us all." Nanan, 37, lived with her son, daughter, Shelly Ann, 17, and her boyfriend, Derrick Daniel.

Daniel said there was a parang fêtê at a bar in the village Saturday night and they left Nanan at home with a male relative.

"Stephen left the parang around 9 o'clock. He called us with the news. He said he came home and (the suspect) was trying to hang himself from a rafter in front the house." Stephen said the man asked for help to remove the rope choking him. Stephen helped the man, said Daniel.

"He asked the man where is his mother. The man said she upstairs watching TV. When Stephen tried to go find her, he push him off and ran away." No one is sure what led to the murder. Nanan is said to have argued with the man about going to the grocery. The man refused to let her go. Daniel said, "This lady was a wonderful, caring, loving person. I can't see why he did this."

The suspect was described as a mean-spirited man who was once treated for a mental disorder. Men in the village spent the day searching the forest. Shane Gobin said that a mile from the home he found evidence that the suspect tried to hang himself from a mango tree but the rope broke. Crime Suppression Unit officers were searching for the suspect up to last night.