‘He didn’t deserve to die like this’ - Beloved husband electrocuted picking mangoes

May 02, 2025
Veronica Daley-Cowan points to the tree where her husband, Linton Cowan, lost his life to electrocution on Saturday.
Veronica Daley-Cowan points to the tree where her husband, Linton Cowan, lost his life to electrocution on Saturday.
The bag still hangs in the tree, a silent marker of the tragedy.
The bag still hangs in the tree, a silent marker of the tragedy.
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It was a regular Saturday morning on Rousseau Road in Kingston. A mango tree stood heavy with fruit and 55-year-old Linton Cowan was doing what he loved, picking mangoes with his wife in the yard.

By mid-morning, he was dead.

"He eats whole heap a mango, dem sweet, and him love mango," his wife, Veronica Daley-Cowan, told THE WEEKEND STAR, eyes fixed on the tree. "But I just don't know why it had to take his life."

Cowan was electrocuted while using a stick with a metal hook to reach mangoes from the tall tree. The stick became entangled in a powerline hidden among the branches. He collapsed face first to the ground and was rushed to the Kingston Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Now, his wife of 14 years is left piecing together the trauma of that morning, with the bag of mangoes still hanging from the tree and the stick he used still leaning from the rooftop.

Daley-Cowan shared that their day began as many others had -- with prayer. But something felt different that morning.

"We had our morning devotion. I heard a strong feeling, the voice of the Lord, saying go and hug your husband and kiss him," she recalled.

"I went inside and I hug him and kiss him. He took off his pyjamas and put on his yard clothes and shoes and came out to pick mango. We were out here together, picking mangoes side by side."

A short while later, she stepped inside to prepare chicken deliveries. Then tragedy struck.

"My big daughter scream out," she said. "When mi run come out, mi see mi husband laying on the floor."

She rushed to him, calling his name over and over, but he didn't respond.

"There was a cut on his forehead, and him lay on him face. His clothes burned off. Him burn."

Her voice trembled as she pointed to the spot beneath the tree.

"He was lying right there where the stick still deh," she said quietly. "I can't manage. Every time I look out and see it, mi traumatise."

Their young daughter, who witnessed everything, remains deeply affected. "She can't stay here anymore. Every time she closes her eyes, it replays in her head," Daley-Cowan said. "I've had to be seeking counselling for her."

The tragedy has rippled through the Rousseau Road community where Cowan was known as a kind, hardworking man who poured himself into service.

"This is a people person. He cleans the community. He ministers to people all the time," Daley-Cowan said. "He does everything. A very helpful person.

Daley-Cowan believes her husband simply didn't see the wire hidden in the foliage. "He didn't see the wire. That's where he had the stick, picking the mango," she said, showing the long rod he'd fashioned with a rubber end. "It's not just metal. There's a rubber on it to pick the mango. That's what we always use."

Today, the tree remains untouched. Its fruit still dangles above, the stick still leans from the rooftop, and the memory of Cowan's final moments lingers heavy in the yard.

"I'm afraid of the tree. Every time I come out here and see it, mi traumatise," Daley-Cowan said. "I look and see where he fell. I haven't picked a single mango since."

They had lived in the area for more than five years, building a life rooted in love, faith, and simple pleasures. Picking mangoes together was a routine one that ended in heartbreak.

"I never expected it to end like this," she said softly. "He was just picking mangoes. He didn't deserve to die like this."

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