For Stanford Thomas, 35 years have not begun to dull the pain of the loss of his common-law wife during the attempted coup of July 27, 1990, and the lack of clarity of what exactly happened to her and the lack of concern by subsequent governments have just deepened the hurt.

Lorraine Caballero, 34, was a clerical officer in the Ministry of Legal Affairs at the Red House and, though separated at the time, Thomas loved her deeply and they kept in touch.

Recalling the events of the day, Thomas, 69, told Newsday he was a carpet installer at the time. He left work on Ariapita Avenue and, as was his custom, he went to visit Caballero at the Red House before heading to his East Dry River home.