(Trinidad Express) A soldier who once trained and enlisted as a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force elite Special Forces Unit has been convicted alongside six others for a series of offences arising out of the kidnapping and murder of US war veteran Balram Maharaj.
Following the conviction-former soldier Ricardo De Four, and Trinidadians Zion Clarke, Kevon Demerieux, Anderson Straker, Wayne Pierre, Christopher Sealey and Kevin Nixon will know next week their fates when their sentencing hearing comes up.
However, sources say an agreement entered between the US and the office of the Attorney General could see the convicted men facing mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole.
The trial, which started on May 26, took place at the US District Court, in Washington, before Judge John D Bates.
At the start of the trial the convicted men entered not guilty pleas.
Several local law enforcement officers journeyed to the US to give evidence, among them relatives of Balram Maharaj.
According to an official at the US Justice Department, who spoke with the Express, the case depended heavily on the evidence of Jason Percival, Russell Joseph, Winston Gittens and, former Special Forces Sgt Leon Nurse. Nurse entered into a plea bargain with the US after he was extradited to the US.
The official further pointed out that the testimony of Percival, which was recorded by Homicide detective Insp Michael Veronique, played a crucial role in the case receiving closure.
The official said the case received its major break with evidence provided by Percival.
Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Carla Brown-Antoine along with acting Commissioner of Police James Philbert, the Office of the Attorney General and Veronique also received commendation from Judge Bates and the US Department of Justice.
Initially 12 persons were charged with the kidnapping and murder of Balram, however, this figure dwindled when David Suchit, who was extradited in 2007, pleaded not guilty at his trial.
The 12-member jury returned not guilty verdicts against him and he was subsequently deported to Trinidad. Suchit had called Crime-Stoppers to provide information relating to the crime but was later arrested and charged.
Four of the men-Percival, Joseph, Gittens and Nurse entered plea bargains and testified against the remaining men.
However, locally another Special Forces Unit member Ricardo Stevenson and Balram’s former common-law wife Doreen Alexander Durity remain jailed after Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls ruled that a prima facie case was established against them. Both accused are charged with murdering Balram and are awaiting trial before the High Court.
