TASTE OF DEATH

Sixteen days after his wife Anita Pereira of Arnos Vale consumed the deadly weedicide gramoxone, her husband Leroy Pereira who originates from Park Hill has done the same.

Could this be a case of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet revived in a modern Vincentian setting?{{more}}

Three days after drinking the poison, Anita a 50-year-old mother of three died. And with no reason left to live, Leroy on August 26, devastated by the loss of his lover, drank the poison.

Last Wednesday, at press time, the 49-year-old man lay at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital battling for his life.

Asked why his wife drank the weedicide, Leroy told SEARCHLIGHT: “I went to take some breadfruit for a friend, every time I leave home she got frustrated. She think that I’ll never come back and if that was to happen she can’t see the sense in living, so she drank the gramoxone.

“I love my wife and wanted to be with her,” said Leroy giving an explanation for the tragedy.

Asked if he had any regrets for drinking the poison Leroy breathing heavily simply responded: “I am sorry.”

“I feel like I’ll survive. If I survive I want to be a counsellor to share my experiences with people who are frustrated,” said Leroy.

Both Leroy and Anita have a history of mental illness.

Leroy said he met Anita while they were patients at the Mental Hospital and they got married in December last year at the Court House.

When contacted, Annie Taylor, Leroy’s sister, confirmed that both he and his wife had a history of mental illness but for sometime now, he has not been in contact with his family since relocating to Arnos Vale.