A Coroner’s Inquest is now underway to determine if anyone is criminally liable in the deaths of Paul Bascom and Alberto Grant, who were fatally shot by lawmen over two years ago.
Bascom and Grant were killed on December 7, 2013, in the yard of a businessman, who police allege they were going to rob.
A Guyana Police Force statement on the shooting said police, acting on information, were on a stakeout at Golden Grove, East Bank Demerara as the men were about to carry out their plan and there was an exchange of gunfire. As a result, both men sustained gunshot wounds to their faces.
Police said too that a .38 snub-nose revolver with two live rounds and two spent shells, along with a 9mm round and two 7.62 x 39mm rounds were recovered.
Magistrate Alex Moore, who is presiding as Coroner, commenced the long awaited inquest on Wednesday, when four persons, including the father of one of the men, testified.
Four of the five police officers, who are alleged to have been involved in the fatal shooting of Bascom and Grant, were present during the proceedings.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Corporal Mark Gaspar, who on the day of the shootings was a Crime Scene Investigator attached to the crime lab at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), recounted receiving a call from the Grove Police Station for a crime scene rank and a photographer. As a result, Gaspar and Rameshwar Singh, who also testified, both made their way to Golden Grove, where he observed two motionless bodies lying in opposite directions of the yard; one of the bodies was to the west of the building. Both bodies, he stated, appeared to have gunshot wounds. He added that a gun was also found two to three feet away from one of the bodies along with three suspected live rounds on the body that was on the western side of the house. He added that any evidence that was retrieved from the site was placed into evidence bags and sealed. Corporal Gaspar, who is now a Presidential Guard and attached to the Special Protective Service Unit, stated that the motionless bodies at the scene were later identified as Bascom and Grant.
Singh, now a Detective Constable at the CID and attached to the crime lab, gave evidence that supported Gaspar’s testimony
He noted that he took pictures of the two motionless bodies, a small handgun with several rounds, several rounds that were scattered on the ground, a cellphone, suspected bullet holes on a concrete fence with what was suspected to be blood, the shattered rear windscreen of a vehicle and several rounds that were found in the pockets of one of the men.
Further testimony was given by Police Constable Shaundel Williams, who is attached to the firearm section of the Criminal Records Unit. She stated that after receiving orders from the officer-in-charge of the unit, she checked the firearm records at the office to find the owner of the handgun that was found at the crime scene. This search, she stated, revealed that it was not on record as belonging to anyone.
CID firearms specialist Corporal Floyd Hosanna testified on Thursday that he had examined the handgun, a .38 Taurus revolver.
Meanwhile, Paul Grant, the father of Alberto Grant, also testified on Wednesday. Although Magistrate Moore stated that much of Grant’s evidence was hearsay and could not be used, he noted that some key facts were going to be allowed.
Grant told the court that on December 8, the day after the men were killed, he was informed by someone who visited his home that his son had died and that he should go to Lyken Funeral Home to see if it was true. Grant recounted that he did not go to the funeral home but instructed his children to do so. He stated that he attended his son’s funeral after the body was released on December 9 from the mortuary.
The inquest has been adjourned to April 21 for continuation. Coroner Moore stated that at this time more witnesses should be summoned and the fifth accused police officer would also be present.
