Archive for December 2nd, 2009

Court hears details of Schirn crime scene

(CNS): The RCIPS scenes of crime officer who examined the scene where Sabrina Schirn’s body was found as well as the abandoned vehicle she was last seen to be driving submitted around one hundred pieces of evidence to the court on Tuesday, from condom wrappers to machetes. As the trial of Randy Martin for the murder of the 21-year-old Schirn reached into its second week, Zoan Marin, who took evidence from the murder scene, the car and the prison farm in East End, told the court that she and a fellow officer had walked and timed the various distance associated with the crime scenes.

Marin said that it took around seven minutes from where the car was abandoned to the orange grove at Wilderness Farm, the prison agricultural facility where the defendant was working on the day the prosecution believe Schirn was killed. She said that walking at a brisk pace it took around six minutes to reach the tomato patch from the orange grove where Martin was reportedly weeding during the morning of 11 March.

Walking from there back to where the car was discovered, Marin said, was around nine minutes. She then explained to the court that the drive from the area near where the body was found to the lane where the car was found was around a minute, but the rocky trail down to where the car was eventually discovered was rough and rocky terrain making it difficult driving, which she said took another three minutes.

The geography of the prison farm in relation to the crime scenes forms an important part of the prosecution’s case, and the judge, Justice Charles Quin, said he believed it would be beneficial to visit the area to gain a better understanding of the distances between the locations and the type of terrain. Justice Quinn said that it would be useful if Marincould accompany the court trip, which would include the defence, prosecution and court staff.

During her testimony, which lasted for the best part of the day, Marin listed many of the items she had seized during the examination, as well as the finger prints she had lifted and blood swabs taken for DNA analysis. She said she also took into evidence two machetes and a cell phone from the prison farm, plus Martin’s clothes. She said she had sealed and sent a white marina top belonging to Martin for DNA analysis but there was no mention of a grey marina that prison officer Dehany had said Martin was wearing on 11 March.

Marin took the court through the two crime scenes, searches in the surrounding areas, and the farm itself, as well as the various discoveries, such as a prison issue glove, the keys to the car Schirn was driving, a pendant, pieces of a BlackBerry phone and its battery scattered around the area, and around a half dozen different condom wrappers that were found in the area around the body.

She explained that when she came upon the murder scene she saw that the body, which was in an advanced state of decomposition, was lying on her back with one leg bent up behind. She said the body was clothed in a bra, a denim skirt and stripped panties and a blue blouse was found several feet away in an abandoned shed as well as a pair of black slippers. As well as taking prints and swabs from the area she said she had photographed and recorded a shoe impression by the shed.

During the day’s testimony the court also heard from Prison Officer Marlon Hudson, who is in charge of security at the prison. He confirmed he had received a call from Dehany on 11 March when he suspected that Martin was up to something and wanted to shut down the farm. He said he was off duty that day she he did not know if the shut-down ever happened. He also testifiedthat a few days later he had received another call from Dehany who said he needed to meet with him urgently.

Hudson explained he was in a joint intelligence unit meeting that day but eventually managed to get away to go meet Dehany but he said he was delayed in traffic and reached the Bodden Town meeting a little later after Dwight Scott, the director of prisons had already arrived. It was here that Dehany had allegedly handed over the mobile phone that he had found on the prison farm a few days after the incident with Martin on the 11 March.

Asked about why his number may have been on cell phone discovered at the prison farm in 2008 that was being used by the defendant, Martin, he said he did not know as he had not given it to him but that his cell number was not a secret.

The trial continues on Wednesday morning with testimony from the prosecution’s DNA expert witness.

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Rush hour armed robbery

(CNS): Updated Wednesday2:00pm — Masked robbers stole a money bag belonging to Tortuga Rum Company from a couple inside a car in the area of Courts Road, George Town, on Tuesday evening at about 6:15pm. Sources have told CNS that the bag contained approximately $3,100 in takings from the company. The 37-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman were trying to reverse the car after dropping off a friend at Springfield Courts before heading towards Tortuga to drop off the money bags, when the two masked men opened the doors and pointed a silver object at them that they believed was a gun, told them not to move and demanded cash.

Their friend, who was outside the car, realized what was happening and screamed. A neighbour called 911 and gave police the license number of the vehicle that the men left in, and they were last seen making off from the scene in what is believed to be a silver Nissan motor vehicle.

No-one was injured as a result of the incident. One of the men responsible is described as being around 6-foot in height, skinny build wearing a long-sleeved dark shirt and a black mask. The second was said to be 5-foot 8-inches in height, slim build, wearing a white t-shirt and a white mask.

Anyone who has any information should call George Town CID on 949 -4222, or Crime Stoppers 800-8477 (TIPS).

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Duty increases ‘soon come’

(CNS): Shoppers will only have a few weeks to make the most of the current customs duty rate before it is increases by a further 2% on most items — a 10% hike in real terms. With the country’s politicians set to return to the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday morning to deal with the legislation required to meet the fee increases set out in the 2009/10 budget, it appears most of the changes will take effect in January 2010. Along with the increase on import duty, members will also debate the bill to introduce a fee on money transfers, as well as a number of other new bills to raise fees on various business transactions.

The increases were set out in the government’s budget, which was passed in the House in October, and collectively they are expected to generate an extra $94 million over the revenue that the Cayman Islands government hopes to raise in this financial year.

One area that government has yet to tackle, but one that is expected to bring in a significant portion — more than 10% — of the $94 million, is an increase to work permit fees. These fees which are likely to hit local business hard are expected to go up by at least 50% and more in other cases, such as fees in the professional sector, which could double. So far, government has not revealed the new fees for specific job categories. It could be that government will not need to bring these fee changes to the LA and it could make the changes directly through Cabinet.

During the budget debate Premier McKeeva Bush said the increase to permit fees would be offset by allowing private businesses to opt out of the compulsory five percent pension contribution for their employees’ pensions, but details of this proposal have not yet been revealed.

Increases to bank and trust licences as well as insurance company licences have already been passed in the LA in recent weeks, along with fees on funds and security investment companies. Although government said it had consulted widely with local business before introducing the various fee increases, with the goal of balancing the budget, a number of organisations from the Society of Estate Practitioners as well as a number of larger private firms have voiced their concerns and objections as they have said the fee increases could drive away business during an already difficult time for the offshore sector.

However, the CIG says that it was left with no choice; it was either raise fees and balance the budget that way or be forced by the UK to introduce direct taxation. Bush has also committed to undertake two reviews, one of the country’s revenue sources and public expenditures and one on the civil service. While the UK is demanding that Cayman find a more sustainable revenue source, preferably direct taxes, the premier has said he is committed to filling the government coffers through direct private investment and growing the country’s economy rather than through direct taxation.

“Let us get revenue from investment and not from taxes,” Bush has said on more than one occasion recently.

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