As the first anniversary of Claudine Bentham’s death approaches, it finds her family consumed by frustration over the failure to charge her killer.
Bentham, 43, of Hadfield Street, Georgetown was found on the grass beside the seawall, between Celina’s Resort and the Russian Embassy turn early on the morning of July 3. Her throat had been slashed.
A suspect who was later held by police was released on station bail, without charge.
Since then, relatives heard nothing from the police until several months ago when one of the investigating ranks said that the matter was with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
The dead woman’s mother, Claudette, in a recent interview, said she is convinced that it was the suspect who slit her daughter’s throat and left her body lying on the Kitty seawall. The man was the last person she was seen with.
While the motive for the killing is unclear, Claudette believed that a gold chain was behind the slaying. Bentham was heard telling the suspect “give meh back me chain,” hours before she was found dead. Several months back, she saw one of the investigating ranks and questioned him about her daughter’s murder. According to Claudette, the rank, who has since been transferred to the Timehri Police Station, told her that the police were waiting on the DPP. “Dem people know that that man murder me daughter and still them put he pon station bail… now they telling me bout DPP. I didn’t even know the case was sent there,” she said.
She added that after she learned of the development, she got upset and “I decide not to follow up.” She said what also upset her was the fact that police had in their possession statements from her brother and son, informing that the suspect and Bentham were seen arguing in Leopold Street, the night before Claudine’s body was found.
William Alfred, Bentham’s brother, had said two days before the woman was killed, she and the suspect had an argument and he tried to make peace. The day the woman was killed, Alfred also said, he saw the man, who appeared to be confused. He said the man asked him for Bentham and he recalled telling him that he hadn’t seen her since they left the previous night. Alfred also recounted noticing that there were dried droplets of blood on the man’s hand and foot. “He din deh speedy, speedy bad,” he said adding that he even asked the man why he was behaving that way.
Claudette noted that while she doesn’t know the suspect, her son often sees him. “Me does tell me son to keep away from he because me nah know what he could do,” she said.
According to Claudette, her daughter’s birth anniversary was two Wednesdays ago and it was a very emotional day for her. She said she cries constantly for and she often has to be counselled by relatives. “It [her murder] was hard,” she said, before pointing out that knowing that the killer is walking free is even harder.
The grieving mother pleaded for justice and remained confident that one day she will get it. Claudette said all she wants is for the police to reopen the investigation and to work harder so that she could get some closure. “This story going down too easy man,” she added.
‘Nothing ain’t doing’
Bentham’s murder came as police were investigating two other seawall killings. Local actor Joel Fraser was found on the morning of November 25, 2009, at the Liliendaal seawall, while Llewellyn Fitzgerald Campbell was found on the Kingston seawall on January 18, 2010. Both their throats were slit.
Because of the similarities in the murders of the two men, police were investigating the theory that they were somehow connected. However, nothing has come out of the investigations.
Hours before he was found Fraser, 39, of Lot 27 Laing Avenue, was set to open his latest production, Mori J’von Comedy Jam, at the National Cultural Centre.
Fraser was wearing only his underpants and a t-shirt when he was found by joggers. Valuables, which he had had in his possession, including a laptop computer and production material for his show, were missing.
Fraser’s mother, Florizel, recently said that “nothing ain’t doing in this investigation. A long time pass and nothing ain’t doing.” She said that since her son was killed, “ah neva hear a word from de police. They neva even come hey to me and that is shocking, really shocking.” She added that she is a member of the Police Wives’ Association and people are saying that because of this more should have been done by the force to investigate the incident. The woman, who said her son’s death had left her in a sickly state, explained that she was still praying and hoping for a revelation from God. “In time God will show the way and ensure that I get justice…. Somebody will say something. I am just here keeping the faith,” she added.
According to Florizel she doesn’t know who to turn to for help, especially since she has heard “all sorts of stories” about why her son was killed.
Meanwhile, a relative of Campbell pointed that police never went back to the area where he was found to find the friend he had reportedly gone to visit. According to the woman, the identity of this person could have provided a break in the investigation. She, like other observers, pointed out that from all appearances, the same person who killed Fraser also killed Campbell. She said she was still baffled about the reason for his murder, as Campbell had no enemies or problems with anyone. “Nobody [the police] ain’t go to find out nothing; everything just throw in a corner,” she said.
She, like the relatives of the others slain persons, hopes that some time in the near future police will get a break in the case and they will finally get justice.
