Russell “Saucy” Joseph.

Russell Joseph was a truck driver by day, and a kidnapper by night. He was one of the persons recruited to kidnap US citizen, Balram “Balo” Maharaj. He was one of the first persons arrested after Maharaj’s dismembered body was found in two containers in the Santa Cruz forest. He admitted being the getaway driver in three kidnappings, but was paid for one. He was the first to be extradited to Washington, DC, to face trial for hostage-taking resulting in Maharaj’s death. Joseph entered into a plea agreement very early with the US authorities, and gave evidence against his partners. In his evidence, he related the gruesome details to the jury how Maharaj died in captivity, and that his body was cut up by Wayne Pierre and Zion Clarke, before being buried.

Joseph remembered the day Maharaj was kidnapped—April 6, 2005. He said that Jason Percival and Ricardo de Four were in the first car. He was driving a silver Lancer, which was the car used to transport Maharaj. That evening, they went to the Samaan Tree Bar in Aranguez. Joseph parked the car on the side street, while Kevin Nixon and Christopher Sealey went into the bar. They were both armed with guns. Minutes later, Nixon signalled to Joseph to bring the car. Joseph responded and he pulled up in front of the bar.
Sealey pulled Maharaj out of the bar. Nixon assisted him in putting Maharaj in the back seat of the Lancer. Joseph drove away and headed to Santa Cruz. He took Maharaj straight to a cocoa field in Santa Cruz, and then returned to the Mellow Moods Bar to meet the others.

‘Balo asked for a beer’
Percival and Wayne Pierre said Maharaj was kept in a place which they did not consider to be safe, and that he should be removed from the cocoa field. “So they told me to go back along with Nixon to get the victim and take him back into our hole, meaning the area where we live. I did so.” Joseph said they took Maharaj out of the cocoa field and placed him at their camp site. The witness said he was given the task of making a proof-of-life recording. That meant recording Maharaj on a cell-phone to show to his family that he was alive. Joseph said he was also instructed to take food to the camp site, which was five minutes off the road. He described the area as being a mountain and forest. “When I got there, the victim was seated in the camp site. He was handcuffed and his feet were tied to a post, one of the uprights in the camp. His head was covered with a shirt, a jersey or something like that. He was gagged.

“I asked him some questions, like who do we need to contact to get information about the money. I asked him for some numbers, but he refused to give me any information. “He keep saying we had the wrong person. We kidnapped the wrong person; we should have take the guy who was with him instead.” According to Joseph, Maharaj was alright and he asked for a beer. A couple of days later, Percival contacted Joseph to meet him at Grand Curacaye Road. Percival instructed Joseph to take Anderson Straker to the camp site. “The victim appeared normal, but he had a little spot of blood on his head. Straker tried to record a proof-of-life statement, but we couldn’t get a statement, so we back down. “I told him that I think we took the wrong person. I said I don’t think that guy got any money. Straker said he’s lying, the man got real money.”

Burn, bury or dump body...
Three days later, Joseph was sent back to the camp site to make another recording. This time, the victim’s condition had deteriorated. He said Maharaj was in a pretty bad shape that day. Joseph said Maharaj was breathing heavily and asking for his medication. Joseph went to the pharmacy, but was told that he needed a prescription; so he left the pharmacy empty-handed.
Joseph returned to the camp site and discovered that Maharaj had gotten worse. “He was on his back; he was breathing heavy, his stomach was going up and down. He was breathing really heavy, couldn’t speak at all. “He was making funny sounds that I really couldn’t understand what he was saying.” Joseph said he learnt, later that night, that Maharaj had died. The big question was what to do with the body. “There was a number of different suggestions, like I said we should dump it at the side of the road, so at least they can find the body.

“Percival wanted to burn the body, and others wanted to bury the body. At that point, Wayne said, no body, no evidence, no case. I learnt that the body was going to be buried in parts. Wayne asked me for a cutlass or a machete. “The victim was on the ground and Wayne was in motion of dismembering the body. He was cutting up the body. “He took the hands off first, and then the arms, then the head, and then he went to the legs. After he was done with that, Zion took over. Zion opened up the torso. “He took out the organs and the intestines, and put them in a white styrofoam cooler. “I helped take the pieces up off the floor and put them into a blue barrel. After all the pieces were put into the barrel and the cooler, Kevon and I hid them behind some rocks to be buried the next day.” Joseph said Zion lit a fire and they all burned their clothes before going down to the river to wash off the blood from their hands.

The Witness

Truck driver, Russell “Saucy” Joseph turned State witness against seven Trinidadians in Washington, DC, on trial for taking US citizen, Balram “Balo” Maharaj, hostage and then killing him. They were found guilty on July 31 and will be sentenced on February 12, 2010. They face a mandatory life imprisonment in prison, without the possibility of parole: Ricardo de Four, Wayne Pierre, Zion Clarke, Kevon Demerieux, Anderson Straker, Christopher Sealey, and Kevin Nixon. Joseph’s evidence is contained among 8,000 pages of the official transcript of the court proceedings

TOMORROW: How Saucy squealed on his gang