One day after his former co-accused Michael Caesar pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges for unlawfully killing 12 persons at Bartica in 2008, Clebert Reece yesterday also admitted his guilt on the lesser count.
Reece, who was initially jointly charged for murder along with Caesar and three other men, indicated to Justice Roxane George, through his attorney Madan Kissoon, that he also wanted to plead guilty to manslaughter.
Reece’s pleas were accepted by the State.
He accepted that on February 17, 2008 at Bartica, he unlawfully killed Lance Corporal Zaheer Zakir and Constables Shane Fredericks and Ron Osborne, Edwin Gilkes, Dexter Adrian, Irving Ferreira, Deonarine Singh, Ronald Gomes, Ashraf Khan, Abdool Yasseen, Errol Thomas, and Baldeo Singh.
His sentencing has been deferred to December 16, pending the presentation of a probation report. Caesar’s sentencing is set for the same day.
Meanwhile, the trial of the other three accused, Mark Royden Williams, Dennis Williams, called ‘Anaconda and Roger Simon, commences this morning at 9 before Justice George at the High Court in Georgetown.
The jointly-charged trio pleaded not guilty when the 12 murder charges were read to them yesterday. Moments before, the 12-member jury hearing their case was empaneled.
Prosecutor Diana Kaulesar related to the court what Reece told investigators was his involvement in the crime.
The court heard that according to Reece, he was forcibly recruited by one whom he identified as “Sad Man,” and who he claimed had threatened to kill his family. “Sad Man” was later identified as now dead gang leader Rondell ‘Fine Man’ Rawlins.
The prosecutor said that the day before the killings, Reece boarded a car with four other men at East La Penitence. They were armed with AK-47 guns, in addition to a handgun, which the driver was carrying.
The court was told that the car took Reece to the Parika minibus park in Georgetown, where he met two other men with whom he travelled to Parika, East Bank Essequibo, where they got a boat.
While there, the two men placed two drums of gas in the boat.
Reece then drove that boat from Parika to an old wharf at Tiger Bay, where he left it with a woman, and returned home to his family.
According to the prosecutor’s account, no part of which was contested by Reece, “Sad Man” called him again and he, along with Dennis Williams, went back to Tiger Bay and drove the boat to the East Coast of Demerara.
The court then heard that there, he moored the boat and seven other men joined it, after which they all travelled back to Georgetown. While in the vicinity of Eve Leary, the prosecutor said, the engine stopped.
According to what Reece told police, “Sad Man” at this point placed an AK-47 to his back and began cursing him. He said that another man, whom he identified as “Magic,” told “Sad Man” to desist as they needed Reece to repair the engine.
After repairing the engine, Prosecutor Kaulesar said that Reece then took the men to an island just before Parika. She said that the seven men who had earlier boarded the boat then disembarked at the island, while Reece headed back to Tiger Bay where he met a man and a woman.
Reece would have related to police that they went and purchased food, emptied the drums that were earlier placed in the boat, and bought more fuel. He said that the man, whom he identified as “White Boy,” placed a big black bag in the boat.
Kaulesar said when the tide rose, Reece and “White Boy” set out for the island he had previously left.
On their way there, “White Boy” took from the bag an AK-47, a hand gun, two bulletproof vests, and uniforms.
At the island, the court was told that Reece and “White Boy” rejoined the seven men who had been earlier dropped off. The prosecutor said that the boat again experienced engine problems and so they rested the night at the island.
The accused told investigators that on the following evening, the day of the killings, they all departed for Bartica. He said too that the men were at that time dressed in camouflaged suits and soldier uniforms and were armed with AK-47’s.
After arriving at Bartica, Reece told investigators that he remained in the boat with three other persons, while the others left, and he shortly after heard gunshots. He said that after some time had passed, the other men returned with pump-action guns, hand guns and two canisters
The court then heard that according to what Reece told the police, “Sad Man,” whom he also referred to as “Fine Man,” shot five men at the stelling behind their heads. Reece also said that he had heard from the other men that at that point, they had already killed seven other men.
Afterward, Reece said he drove the boat to Sharima, in the Essequibo River, where he moored it.
The prosecutor said that the men then boarded a jeep together with their weapons and the other articles they had gotten during the attack. She said that Reece then poured gas into the boat and set it adrift.
Kaulesar told the court that Reece, along with the men, all travelled on land with the articles. She said that they eventually built a camp. Kaulesar said that Reece also spoke of canisters that they stole being opened and them finding money, several ounces of gold and jewellery inside.
Reece, she added, said he and others were given six ounces of gold each. She said that some three months after, he escaped from the men. Reece had said that sometime after that period, he saw Dennis Williams one day in the company of two friends and they all went and bought food.
The prosecutor said that on the following day, Reece was arrested in a car with a friend, identified as “Randy,” who was wanted for murder.
Kaulesar said that on May 27, 2008, Reece was put on an identification parade and he was picked out.
Kissoon, who had no objections to the facts read against his client by the prosecutor, successfully applied for a probation report to be done on his client before sentencing.
When Caesar pled guilty on Monday, Kaulesar disclosed that while in custody he gave investigators a written statement in which he admitted that three weeks prior to the shootings, he was informed that they would be going on a “big wuk.”
Caesar also admitted to the shooting at the Bartica Police Station as well as driving along the road in a police vehicle “licking shots wild, wild.” He too said “Fine Man” had killed some of the victims.
He had also told police that after their escape, “Fine Man,” give him $700,000 and a quantity of gold, which he sold for $900,000.
Like Reece, Caesar said that during the incident, they got two canisters containing money and gold, which they divided among themselves.
The commencement of the trial, which was scheduled for early last month, had been delayed by several pretrial issues that engaged the court’s attention. Among them was the jurisdiction of the High Court in Demerara to hear the case.
Justice George had ordered the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to refile its motion for the matter to be transferred from the jurisdiction of the County of Essequibo to Demerara.
The motion initially filed by the DPP was not served on the accused, nor were they given a chance to respond. Justice George resultantly ordered the DPP to refile the motion, serve it on the accused persons and, in keeping with principles of natural justice, give them an opportunity to be heard.
While the accused persons were given a chance to be heard, the order itself was however recalled last week, since the initial motion filed by the DPP to have the matters transferred to Demerara was made by Chief Justice Yonette Edwards-Cummings.
Justice George recalled the order she had made because she could not override a ruling made by another judge who has equal standing as her in the same branch of the court. Such an order could only have been made by a higher court, such as one with appellate jurisdiction.
