Defective photographs and misplaced evidence were among missteps by investigators highlighted yesterday when three police witnesses testified in the trial of four men accused of murdering 72-year-old Clementine Fiedtkou-Parris in her Robb Street home four years ago.
Crime scene photographer and analyst Lance Corporal Desmond Johnny attested to making several observations during his visit to the dead woman’s home after the murder. These observations included the presence of what had appeared to be blood on a chair in the living room as well as a hole in one of the bedroom walls reportedly made by a bullet.
He also stated that during his investigations he recovered two .38 spent shells on the floor, which were delivered to the police ballistics department for analysis.
According to Johnny, while he photographed all his observations, he was unable to produce any crime scene photos because he was forced to discard the photos as the negatives did not properly develop and they reproduced too dark. This he attributed to the film being defective.
Under cross-examination by Orwin Hinds’ attorney, George Thomas, Johnny admitted that while he checked the inside of the house, he made no attempt to physically check the yard or question neighbours of the deceased as it was not a focus in his investigation of the crime scene.
Additionally, the Lance Corporal admitted that he did not prepare a statement of what he did during his visit to the crime scene until four months after he had initially conducted his visit. He said the statement was only prepared after Detective Sergeant Caesar instructed him to do so.
Attorney Maxwell McKay also sought clarity in determining whether or not any usable fingerprints were lifted from the crime scene; Johnny responded that no prints were lifted.
Also called to testify were Detective Sergeant Eon Jackson of the Police Firearm Examination Department and Detective Constable Rondell Gouveia of the Criminal Investigations Department at the Alberttown Police Station.
Jackson, in his evidence-in-chief, confirmed that he examined two .38 spent shells he reportedly received from Johnny. He said that based on his findings, while the bullets could have been fired by either a .38 special revolver or a .357 revolver, both bullets were fired from the same gun. This, he said, was determined after he examined both bullets using a ballistics microscope.
Under cross-examination by attorney Moti Singh, Jackson admitted that .38 revolvers are usually owned and used by security firms or members of the police force. Singh then enquired whether the spent shells were compared to any of the .38 revolvers used by members of the Guyana Police Force, to which Jackson responded in the negative.
Meanwhile, Gouveia attested to being one of the first officers to visit the crime scene shortly after the murder took place. He related that on his arrival, he spoke with her brother, Fitzroy Fiedtkou, who had reportedly been involved in a scuffle with one of the killers.
Gouveia recounted that Fitzroy supplied him with a description of the men who shot his sister and he passed on all of the information he had gathered at the scene to the officers in charge of the official investigation.
Additionally, he was present at the Georgetown Hospital mortuary when the dead woman’s remains were identified by her brother and niece.
Gouveia stated that after the post-mortem examination was conducted, he uplifted the original report from Dr Nehaul Singh. However, the document was misplaced at the Alberttown Police station and has not been found.
During cross-examination, Moti Singh enquired whether Gouveia e had compared the description of the perpetrators given by Fitzroy to anyone in the police force. However, Gouveia related that he was not instructed to do so.
Orwin Hinds and his brother Cleon Hinds, along with Roy Jacobs and Kevin October are currently on trial before High Court Judge Navindra Singh for the June 30, 2011 murder of Fiedtkou-Parris, who was fatally shot at her 42 Robb Street, Georgetown home.
The trial is set to continue on Monday.
