BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – JOSEPH ‘GOOSIE’ NEWMAN was overwhelmed, to say to least, when news of his son’s murder caught his ears and while he struggles to understand the “whys” of the situation, he remembers some of the happier moments they shared.
Kevin ‘Broadie’ Newman, tragically lost his life on the evening of November 1, 2014. He was operating a motor omni bus and while between the Dieppe Bay and St. Pauls villages, he was shot and killed during an attempted robbery.
Shock, disbelief and even expressions of anger have come from many across the local communities because of the unexpected and inhumane nature of Broadie’s death.
“Why do you think people are still speaking about Broadie and what happened to him? Because it was totally unexpected, nobody expected this to happen to him. He worked very hard for what he wanted and he never troubled anyone,” Joseph Newman told SKNVibes.
He said the relationship he had with his son was “an excellent one” much like that which he has with his other sons and daughters. He remembers him someone who valued neatness.
“We had a very good relationship, an excellent one. And he was the kind of person who always liked to be neat and liked to see neatness. If I would go into town and my shirt had in a hole or something and Broadie saw me, he would ask me if I couldn’t have changed the shirt before coming into town.
“If he realised that my bus was dirty, he would tell me it needs to be washed. He just liked to be neat…”
His father also remembers him as one who preferred not to be involved in contentious issues.
“He had a way… if you said something to him that he did not like, he would simply say, ‘man, don’t study with that…’”
Broadie’s father was a participant in a candle light vigil which was held on Friday evening (Nov. 7) in Dieppe Bay by members of the St. Peters, West Line and East Line Bus Associations.
The event was preceded by a motorcade, involving close to 100 busses, which flowed from the vicinity of Joseph Newman’s home in Cayon, through to Dieppe Bay via Basseterre.
The ceremony saw the laying of a wreath and 100 plus candles and or lit cell phones were raised in the air in remembrance of the fallen bus operator.
President of the West Line Bus Association Dale ‘Big Blue’ Hughes told SKNVibes he was very pleased with the turnout at the event and at the conduct of the bus operators in their show of respect.
Meanwhile a police press release informs that an autopsy performed on Broadie’s remains on Saturday (Nov. 8) and it was determined that “death was a result of a gunshot injury”. The post mortem was conducted by pathologist Dr. Valery Alexandrov.
