Although the four men accused of conspiring in the murder of elderly Robb Street resident Clementine Fiedtkou-Parris have been convicted and jailed, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum says the investigation of the crime is still active because there may be more players involved.
Brothers Orwin and Cleon Hinds as well as Roy Jacobs and Kevin October were on Tuesday found guilty of murdering Fiedtkou-Parris, 72, on June 30, 2011 at her Lot 42 Robb Street, Georgetown home.
While welcoming the convictions and the sentencing of each man to 81 years in jail, persons close to the woman remain convinced that the killers acted on orders which had their genesis in then ongoing attempts to have the woman vacate the property she occupied.
Jacobs, in a caution statement that he gave the police and which was read during the trial, had implicated a city businessman.
“Before we did go pon de wuk, Otis went telling me that we didn’t got fuh worry because ‘Trans’ live next door and that’s how I get fuh figure out that is Trans’ work. About a week before, Trans—I think he name Satesh, because I hear Otis calling he Satesh—he come in Albouystown and he and Otis did talking and he did telling Otis that he and a lady deh in court over some land dispute and how de lady is a cross and he want she go down,” Jacobs said, according to the statement.
Orwin Hinds, in his caution statement, which was also admitted at the trial, also indicated that the land dispute was behind the crime.
“Me and my friend meet ‘Black Boy’ and ‘Dutchie’ at the 40 bus park and ‘Black Boy’ tell we that he does work for a big Indian man and the man want he to kill a woman over some land problem. And they want to use the gun to do the work. I ask them how much money they getting to do the work and ‘Black Boy’ said $1.5 million for she head and that them gon’ give we one hundred thousand dollars to rent the gun. Me tell he that I gon’ rent he the gun when they ready,” the statement read.
Asked specifically about this piece of evidence, Blanhum said that information would have been in the possession of the police before it was presented in court. He explained that during the early stages of the investigation “all these things were revealed” and the accused were offered plea deals but at that time none of them wanted to enter into such an arrangement.
He stressed that the conviction is not the end of the investigation as there may be more players involved.
Fiedtkou-Parris was shot by one of two men who visited her Lot 42 Robb Street home and inquired for her, police had said. As she came out of her bedroom, she was shot several times to the upper part of her body. The men then jumped into a waiting car while the injured woman was rushed to the Georgetown Hospital, where she was pronounced dead shortly after.
The woman’s property was apparently the centre of a bitter battle.
A source with knowledge of the case questioned why the person who hired the “hit men” has not been arrested and emphasised that oftentimes the masterminds escape unpunished.
“I am not suggesting that they get off… they were the mere tool. Those boys can tell you who hired them even now that they are convicted. They have nothing to lose by telling the truth,” he said.
He said that there is evidence implicating an identifiable person and in the circumstances it should be investigated to the fullest. “The evidence is that somebody hired them. They were convicted for what they did but there is still another piece of the puzzle. They were hired to kill, they didn’t do it for fun,” the source said.
“Persons were hired to kill someone so we need to find the persons who did the hiring. “The hit men are four men… talk to all of them to see if the story mesh. You need to find the person who organised the killing. You gotta go after the intellectual authors, they are the real killers…even if it means you have to strike a deal with one to find the killers,” he said.
According to the source, a caution statement becomes even more credible when it is accepted by a court of law. “The statement is important and there is supporting evidence. By doing investigations, everything will fall into place. To just go after the four men is not good enough,” the source said, while adding that it is sad to see this happening time and time again in high-profile cases.
