Joseph, station manager and host of a cultural show on local Radio-Télé Provinciale, was gunned down outside his wife’s house in Gonaïves, 105 miles (170 kilometers) north of Port-au-Prince, according to press reports and CPJ interviews.
At 9:30 p.m., two unidentified men approached Joseph as he was sitting in a car in front of his wife’s house, the radio station’s director, Frantz Justin Altidor, told CPJ. Joseph’s wife ran for help when she saw the two men draw their weapons, Altidor said. Moments later, neighbors found the journalist’s body outside his car, shot at least 11 times, according to Haitian and international press reports. Local authorities were investigating, Altidor told CPJ.
Joseph hosted a popular Sunday morning program that featured music and news about cultural activities in Gonaïves, local journalists told CPJ. According to Altidor, Joseph managed the daily work of the radio station and often filled in as host of the station’s daily news program. Also a high school philosophy teacher, Joseph was active in local cultural organizations, Altidor said.
In March, Altidor said, he received an anonymous call from a man who warned him that he did not like Radio-Télé Provinciale’s stand on the disarmament of local gangs. Joseph informed Altidor that he had received similar phone calls at the radio station but did not pay attention to them. According to Altidor, Joseph had been recently threatened by an individual with whom he had a financial dispute unrelated to journalism.