The attorney for Rondell Bacchus, the suspect who is being questioned by the police in relation to the gunning down of gold dealer Ricardo Fagundes more than two weeks ago outside Palm Court says that the police have no evidence linking his client to the crime.
Contacted for an update yesterday, Damien DaSilva told Stabroek News that Bacchus remained in police custody up to last evening.
DaSilva said it is clear the police have no evidence against his client. If they did, he said Bacchus would have already been charged.
“I was told there is no evidence. It is obvious there is no evidence. It’s just merely questioning him….There is nothing connecting him to the crime,” DaSilva said.
According to DaSilva, among the questions Bacchus was asked was whether he knew Fagundes and his whereabouts on the night in question.
DaSilva had previously told this newspaper that at the time in question, Bacchus was at the home of a relative and nowhere close to the scene of the crime.
He said from the inception his client has denied any involvement in the crime and continues to maintain his innocence.
Bacchus’s 72 hours in detention expires sometime today. The police would therefore have to release him, charge him or approach the High Court for an extension of time to further detain him.
Fagundes, a family friend of convicted drug dealer Roger Khan, was gunned down outside of the Palm Court bar on Main Street, Georgetown, on April 21. He was shot approximately 20 times.
According to the police, Fagundes was having drinks with a colleague in Palm Court when he received a call on his cellphone.
Shortly after exiting Palm Court, police said several loud explosions were heard. Fagundes was later found lying in a pool of blood on the road. His body bore several gunshot wounds.
Bacchus turned himself into the police on Tuesday about an hour after a wanted bulletin was issued for him in relation to the murder of Fagundes.
After he was arrested, Bacchus was subjected to a gunshot residue test and was taken to his home where a search was conducted. Up to yesterday, DaSilva said the result had not been disclosed to him.
On May 22, 2019, Bacchus was sentenced to 16 years, 8 months behind bars, after pleading to the lesser offence of manslaughter.
Following the arrest of Bacchus, questions were raised as to how the suspect was out of prison after being jailed in 2019.
Questioned about this on Tuesday, DaSilva had said that his client was released on parole and for good behaviour in October 2019, months after the sentencing.
However, Stabroek News understands that Bacchus was at no point granted parole. It would therefore mean that he was released on other grounds. Specific details surrounding his release remain unknown.
While he denied the capital charge on which he was originally indicted, Bacchus admitted guilt on the lesser count, accepting that on July 24, 2008, he unlawfully shot and killed scrap iron dealer Akbar Alli whom he had robbed of more than $2 million.
Eleven years
Eleven years were deducted from the sentence for the period of incarceration which meant Bacchus would have still have been required to serve five years.
In 2017 Fagundes was arrested and questioned by police over a $900 million fraud at a local bank for which his acquaintance, miner Saddiqi Rasul was charged. Rasul, the owner of SSS Minerals Trading, was charged on April 3 that year with six counts of fraud.
In the surveillance footage seen by Stabroek News, Fagundes was seen walking towards a black vehicle, which was parked in front of Palm Court.
As he approached the vehicle, two gunmen emerged from a white car parked on the eastern carriageway of Main Street, ran towards him and opened fire. After several shots, Fagundes collapsed. However, the gunmen still continued to shoot at him, running to the front of the vehicle where Fagundes lay.
Shortly after, one of the gunmen rushed back to the getaway car. His accomplice, however, ran towards Fagundes, stood over him and discharged more rounds before he re-entered the waiting motorcar.
The car sped away along Main Street and hours later a car matching the description was found burnt in Swan Village, Soesdyke/Linden Highway. Police are still to confirm whether it was indeed the getaway car.
Sources told Stabroek News that the police recovered 30 spent shell casings at the scene. Sixteen were of the type used in an AK-47 rifle while the other fourteen were from a 9mm pistol.
Khan, two Mondays ago at the funeral service for Fagundes, said that he was the real target of the recent `hit’ and he called on President Irfaan Ali to ensure the investigation is “impartial” as he demanded justice.
