Key high-profile murders for 2014 remain unsolved underlining the continuous weaknesses in police probes.
While not wanting to link this to a lack of eyewitness accounts, Crime Chief Leslie James acknowledges that this is a general problem which is of concern to the police.
He made the point though that if in the future, such persons do come forward and provide critical pieces of information to police, the perpetrators can be charged and “properly convicted”.
There have been longstanding concerns about the police’s inability to solve execution killings and other high-profile crimes. A number of reasons have been put forth by the police over the years, but they remain unable to track down these killers. This remains the case even though the police have embarked on a number of community-based initiatives in order to strengthen the relationship between members of the Guyana Police Force and the public.
Asked about investigations into killings such as the Trevor Rose execution and the Sterling Products fatal armed invasion, James said cases such as these remain open. He said that in all cases where a life is lost violently through murder there is a rule that no matter how long after information is received action can be taken.
“A matter can appear to be dormant for a number of years… after all that time police can receive information that can lead to a person being charged and properly convicted,” he told Stabroek News.
Asked whether in some of the cases last year, the absence of witnesses coming forward arose, he said he has not assessed them in that regard.
On a general note, he stressed that the force has taken note that persons who may have witnessed a crime opt not to come forward and this is of concerned. “We are urging anyone who has witnessed a crime to come forward,” he said, adding that there are systems in place to offer some form of protection to these persons if needs be.
He stressed that without these persons providing information to investigators, crimes can go unsolved and the perpetrator/s remain free in society to commit similar crimes.
Last year then crime chief Seelall Persaud had noted that the police faced three major issues in investigating high-profile murders: the first is that the police are dependent on the public (in the form of eyewitnesses), the second is their forensic capability and the third has to do with the skills of the ranks.
A security source told this newspaper that often eyewitnesses are scared to come forward for security reasons. “Sometimes they think that by coming forward and revealing what they saw will somehow put them in danger,” the source said while noting that many times these persons would give a minute-by-minute account to the media but refuse to relate the same story to the police. The source noted that it all had to do with the lack of trust and confidence. Witness protection, the source said, ought to be explored now more than ever as it may be key to solving many of the high-profile matters.
The source pointed out that there are many times when eyewitnesses for one reason or the other say that they were unable to identify the perpetrator because they were confused or that the incident happened too quickly. “The police gotta to find a way around this. Too often eyewitnesses cannot tell you the colour top the person was wearing or even the colour car they fled in….even if the shooting or killings happened in the daytime,” the source said.
The source noted that the police must be applauded for their successes last year in other areas. The source stated that there were many cases of murders and armed robberies in which the police were able to arrest suspects and lay charges. “The ordinary stabbing of someone at a rum shop and so on police seem to have under wraps but it is those planned crimes like executions and well-executed robberies that are seemingly presenting challenges,” the source said while noting that there were at last a dozen high-profile killings in 2013 which remain unsolved.
According to the source, the key to this involves many areas, inclusive of the strengthening of community relations, the boosting of investigative skills and the availability of forensic science. The source said that once these things are in place, tracking down criminals may be easier.
Trevor Rose, a local fashion designer was gunned down at Eccles, East Bank Demerara in an early morning attack in January last year. Police are yet to come up with a motive for the hair-raising shooting which still has many of his relatives and friends in shock.
Police said they were following “clues” but it seems that they led nowhere as those arrested were released. There has been no movement in the case since.
Rose, a father of eight, was shot dead around 5 am on January 26 while travelling in a car on the Eccles Access Road. Reports are that Rose and a female companion, Latoya Towler (the mother of his youngest child), were heading to the woman’s Eccles home when the shooting occurred. They were passengers in a car driven by Troy Nieuenkerk. Both Towler and Nieuenkerk were injured in the attack.
Based on the information given to the media by the police, it appears as though Rose was killed as a result of road rage. However, based on what Nieuenkerk said, Rose apparently was the target and knew the shooter. Nieuenkerk had said that shortly after the man walked up to the vehicle, Rose instructed him to drive. Rose was shot five times and died before reaching the hospital.
Rawle Newton called `Satan Ambassador’, of Lot 119 Caesar Street, Agricola and Lot 35 Princes Street, Lodge was found around 10 pm on May 24 on a roadway at Eccles Industrial site with gunshot injuries to his head, his side and his arm. He was positively identified by his mother and other relatives days later.
It remains unclear why Newton who had numerous run-ins with the law was killed execution-style. Police said that there were no arrests and no motives for the killing.
Prior to his death, a double murder case he had before the court was discharged. He had also been wanted for robbery under arms.
Though the police have an image of the gunman shooting Debra Blackman, he remains at large. That image along with a video showing the man moments before the shooting were released to the media.
On August 23, the gunman walked into the Delicious Restaurant on D’Urban Street, between Hayley and Hardina streets, and shot Blackman. Seconds after the shooting the man was seen walking out of the restaurant and he subsequently jumped onto a CG motorcycle which sped off.
A part of the footage shows a young man, dressed in a grey t-shirt, dark-coloured pants and a cap, standing by the counter. Two men subsequently entered and could be seen acting nervously. Though they entered separately, based on the way they were acting it would appear that all three were known to each other. The man in the cap remained standing at the counter and was seen constantly glancing around.
Though he was wearing the cap, at several points his face could be clearly seen.
Blackman, based on reports, was shot as she was preparing to hand over food that was ordered. Footage captured from the cameras outside subsequently recorded the gunman fleeing the scene on a CG motorcycle.
The mother of five sustained a single gunshot wound which entered her body through her neck and passed out through her shoulder. She died moments after being shot. Relatives remain convinced that robbery was the motive.
On December 8, Sterling Products security guard Wilfred Stewart was shot dead while chemist Mario Gohill was wounded when five bandits stormed the East Bank Demerara location during a failed robbery.
Based on the information transmitted to the media, after entering the compound the bandits first shot Stewart then proceeded to the accounts department. They were said to be after money they felt was kept there. However, after they realized that the safe which they were targeting was locked, they assaulted a female employee before making good their escape in a waiting car.
Police later viewed the footage captured on security cameras. Persons were arrested but released and there have since been no developments in the case since.
