(CNS): Full story — Patrick McField, Osbourne Douglas and Brandon Leslie-Ebanks have all been found guilty of the murder of Omar Samuels in McField Lane, George Town on 5 July. The verdict was returned just before 4:00pm this afternoon (Thursday 16 September) to a courtroom filled with friends and family of the defendants. When the unexpected verdict was delivered by the foreman, the families of the three men broke down in shock and grief at the result. The judge took a short adjournment after the jury’s verdict was delivered before pronouncing the mandatory life sentence on all three defendants as the men’s families wept in the public gallery. (Photo courtesy of News27)
The defence teams said they were unable to comment on the verdict but each one confirmed that they would be filing appeals as soon as possible on behalf of their respective clients.
Brandon Leslie-Ebanks’ mother and brother told CNS that they were shocked by the verdict. Brandon’s mother said that, given the gun crime in Cayman at present and the murder which took place during the trial, this may have influenced the result, but she said it was a travesty of justice to convict innocent men as was the situation in this case with her son and his co-defendants.
“Convicting innocent men of a crime won’t solve the problem that we are facing in our community,” she said. “My son is not a murderer, he does not carry a gun, but because of the bad things that are happening in Cayman it is influencing people to think all young men are bad. He is not guilty of this crime and the man who fired that bullet and killed Omar is still free. Justice has not been served,” she added through her tears
Matthew Leslie, Brandon’s brother said, “This is very distressing for us at present, especially for my mom for whom this has been a stressful ordeal, as the evidence simply did not support the result. However I am confident that this will be overturned in the Court of Appeal where the evidence will be properly assessed.”
Leslie said that all of the friends and relatives of the defendants were shocked and surprised because they believed that the widely contradictory evidence of the crown’s eyewitnesses and the inconsistencies with the forensic evidence simply did not point in any way to the guilt of the young men.
Brandon’s brother also noted that the passing of the police bill as well as another murder involving a firearm during the trial may well have served to have a negative effect on the community.
Kim Evans, who was since retired from the RCIPS but was the senior investigating officer on the case at thetime, was also in court to hear the verdict. He said that the officers involved had worked very hard on the enquiry and justice had been served.
1st of all….. why when someone is implying the truth you always feel that it’s the wrong thing to say?! Come on, we all know the truth hurts but the truth is the truth and if you dont like it, you shouldnt be involved in the subject of question. Cayman is supposed to be one of the richest countries in the world too bad we are not 1 of the brightest. I know all 4 men that were involved in the case, and we have to recognize we lost 4 caymanians whether criminals or not still caymanians, so what are we going to do now? Are we going to replace them with our favorite police officers ?? ( hint hint, jamaicans ). Come on now, we live by the murder capital of the world and we have them as police offiicers, AG (attorney general), judges but we don’t have any caymanians playing police or judge over there!! So really now, where do you think this badness is coming from?? And no its not from B.E.T and/or video games its from right next door. Open your eyes Cayman. Viva Los tortugas !!!! 1 armed (handicapped) or not, Omar was a trouble maker just as much as they were/are. An automatic weapon was found in his residence a year previous to his untimely death. The night of this incident he threatened numurous individuals and brandished a firearm !! Ask around !! Unfortunately he threatened and brandished the firearm @ the wrong person/s, even if he had no intentions on using it. If someone, 1 armed (handicap) or not pointed a gun @ me with intentions to hurt me I would do everything in my power to prevent that person from causing me harm. And i hope if I have friends there with me they would help protect me from someone attempting to cause me harm. 2 wrongs dont make a right but let’s keep it real people !! AND THAT’S THE TRUTH
Hopefully this outcome will serve as a warning to others – surely society is sick and tired of this idiotic loser life-style (I won’t even grace it with any reference to foreign street gangs’ "language", it’s all so horribly pathetic and un-Caymanian). You parents who like to leap to the defence of your children regardless of their wrong-doing, start acting responsibly for a change – that’s the way to show true love for your child – and take careful note of the consequences of allowing your child to keep bad company ("Birds of a feather flock together"). Dwell on the prospect of your own child being kept behind bars for the rest of his life : sadly, not unlike an exhibit in a zoo, to be gazed upon by visitors. How horrifying. Do the right thing – bring your child up with a healthy respect for themselves and others, and figures of authority like teachers and police officers. And if this leads to an occasional tantrum episode, please, consider the alternative.
I am a family member of one of the prosecutions witnsesses, and I am family to one of the defendeants, so either way my stomach was ripping open
Where are the posts blaming the status grants or Jamaican permit holders? The truth does not fit the complaint does it?
if their sons and mothers/ family meant so much to them maybe they should have tried to make their sons/children proud of them instead of bringing them to shame… i see on FB the baby mothers training their children up in the gangsta life..why not try and make them respectable gentlemen and nice you ladies instead of gangtas and hot girls..you will be sorry when the children turn out to be in jail and knock up at 16
If you think brandon leslie-ebanks is a saint then go and ask him in prison why he ran from the USA; and shortly after his return to cayman he is involved in the killing of Omar. his mother can cry all she wants but this is the problem in cayman today; too much swearing and protection of their sons who are out there killing, robbing and threatening people and telling mommy they didn’t do it and of course good old mom believes them as most mothers would. i am not falling that bunch of crap i saw on TV.
Good riddance, i hope all three rot in jail because it would not surprise me if others were either killed, maimed or shot at with a gun by these three gangstas.
WHAT IS EVIDENCE reading some of these posters here i wonder if some of them know what is evidence. the girl might not see/know who fired the gun. but one of the pulled the gut, amd she heard shots. victim lying on the ground and bleed to death. now the three men was ingage in a interprise,beating a one arm man. the three should be responsible for what ever happen to him. circumstancal evidence can be powerful some times
And for a brief overview of the way that people feel regarding this case please compare the following:
On comments that questioned the validity of the verdict, the majority people disliked the comments posted.
Where the comment assailed the young men, the majority liked the comment.
If this is the view that society is taking regarding comments made by other citizens in society who are voicing their concerns about whether or not the young men received justice, what chance does the next individual accused of murder have for a fair trial? By jury, none, because society is already prejudiced. By judge alone, none, because he will have the wrath of a prejudiced society to contend with. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Minds have already been made up and these statistics on this site only prove that what I have said is true: society no longer cares about the truth. J
But this is very risky behaviour, because all this means is that the killer(s) still lurk among us. The commissioner said that basically society was safe as those associated with gang activity was either dead and or in prison. And then there was another murder. So he was wrong because there was still another murderer somewhere out there. So does being openly prejudice against those in court help the situation? Not unless you are about to tell me that being prejudice is going to eliminate crime.
This is a message to Matthew Leslie the brother of Brandon Leslie Ebanks.
I know that as a well known businessman in the community that I know for a fact and by those that tell me that you help many many people in society that you must be completely shattered with the verdict. Seeing you on TV representing your family and yourself as well as hearing you on the radio and in the newspaper I can see that you love your brother who now has to face the rest of his life in prison for a crime he has been found guilty of.
Just last week I saw on TV and in the news that you helped that family that lost their home in the fire and I know that you are probably aspiring to run for office in the next election with your YUDP involvement. You have all the merits of a statesman and I applaud you.
What I want to ask you though is simple- When Brandon was out of jail and running around, what did you try to do to help him? As someone as rich and well connected as you are, would you not have tried to give him a job? Educate him? Help clean his life up? I just ask these questions because as a Caymanian that is looking at everything it would seem to me that Brandon came from a family that was not living in the worst area of Cayman. Is it that we as a society can point the finger at everyone else but our own? We must wake up and realize it is our own brothers and sisters and sons and daughters out there committing these crimes. To your mother Susan. I can only say that as a parent myself I pity you but as a citizen I am satisfied to know that our justice system is at work to put to rest the plague this island has been seeing over the last 24 months.
I am not telling you to stop helping people Mr. Leslie as I wish more people were like you. I see so many young people in your company shirts and some of them would follow the same path as your brother if you did not help them. My question though is who will be the next surprise? Will it be the brother of a Foster? Kirkconnell? Bodden? Cayman, it starts from within. Examine your family and save your children. Bring them up the right way and look at this as an example of a situation where no one came a winner. Not only is a life gone and 3 now put in prison for life but brothers, mothers, children left behind to suffer. Wake up Cayman!!
Some News Media’s have been a bit misleading in reporting the facts, as it is the Defense Attorney’s job to try to discredit the Crown’s case. The Media was only reporting what the Defense was saying, but gave the general public a certain expectation while following the case and therefore the general public would have expected a "not guilty" verdict, based on what the news media reported.
It is quite unfair and misleading to assume what was in the Jury’s minds and say that they were obligated to return a "guilty" verdict and that they were using this as a deterrent to other criminals out there.
No one knows how difficult it may have been for the Jury to come to their decision, even in the midst of all the pressure and wondering what the outcome would have been and how people would have reacted! Someone would have had to be upset with the outcome, whether "guilty" or "not guilty"!
All-in-all, it must not have been easy for the Jury and nevertheless, they have done their civil duty.
precisely! unless you sat through every day of the trial and heard all of the evidence, your opinion or expectation was almost certainly based on the press reports.
Just my thoughts exactly, excellent summary !!!! For the most part, the public at majority relied upon the media for details regarding the case which tended to leaned towards the defense whether intentional or not. I myself thought that a ‘not gulity’ verdict would have come about. However, I’m not saying that those guys are innocent, but just based on information presented.
yes man!! thats great!
long time they should have been off the road from high school!
i been watching these boys get arrested from middle school thats about 13 yrs old can u believe that!! they are crimminals i have no doubt that they are the murderers prob responsible for some of the past robberies too they are theives and if they can theif they can do anything! good job on this one legal
i know the judge mut be glad to be finally rid of them after all these years they are practically family !
🙂
What people don’t seem to realized is that persons aren’t stupid, we have the ability to pick sense out of non-sense. The jury would have not only listened to the testimony of all the witnesses but would also have the added bonus of watching the body language of these witnesses as they gave evidence, including the one defendant that took the stand; therefore why is it then that we now assume that there must have been a great misscarriage of justice. Any psycologist will confirm that to find yourself in a situation like those girls you will hear 15 gun shots instead of 5 to 8, for example. The jury would also have the sense to know that if they were not telling the truth and had conspired to convict these young men, their stories would have been exactly alike, word for word. True eye witnesse have the same basis facts in their stories, some hear 20 shots, some hear 10. If your honest with yourself you will admit to this fact.
Then the sole defendant that takes the stand, confirms details that the young ladies had previously testified to, how do you explain this? So, the girls are lying, but only the part about the shooting. Come one!
Then you have another witness that has now changed his statement (since being sent to Northward himself) to point to another suspect, how lucky can you get. If your innocent as you claim, why does your mother try to get one of the witnesses to change her statement (using intimidation) and now awaiting her time in front of the judge.
Come on people, be honest with yourselves. 12 people came to a just conclusion. And I feel that, we will see alot more equally just conclusions in ther near future.
i wonder if the mothers of leslie-ebanks, douglas & mcfield know who their sons really are?, do they know exactly what they do on the corners of these cayman streets, i wonder how omars mother felt when she heard that her son was murdered, at least the mothers of the convicted can still see an touch their sons, they were given life not death!!!
Let me start by saying congratulations to Ms. Richards and the legal team that worked on this case. Congrats to the RCIPS that worked on this case to get it where it was & last but not least CONGRATS to the jury – JOB WELL DONE.
Yes it is sad that 3 young men lost their lives but it was also unfair for Omar’s to be taken from him. He was a handy cap for God’s sake. A man with one arm! For 3 young men to jump him, was that really called for? Is any murder called for if it is not in self defence? No it sure isn’t.
I am sure if it was one of these men left on the road to die, their mothers, brothers, etc would want justice served as well.
Come on. This is Cayman and these 3 young men are no strangers to the justice system. Family & friends you need to have some integrity for yourself and know when it is time to gracefully bow out. Like I said, it is sad. Very sad! These four young men (the deceased & defendants) could have been Cayman’s future MLA’s, doctors, teachers but instead they chose less, like so many other young caymanian people.
I am a young Caymanian and I know each and everyone of these young men. Omar was no saint but Omar’s presence had never made me feel uncomfortable. I have never seen Omar beat up on people, young or old because he knows he can bully them. I can honestly say this, I have NEVER seen that but I have seen and know of Patrick & Brandon bullying and beating up on people even much younger than them. It was a sport for these two young men. I felt very sorry for them yesterday because of the life the chose and they are so young & anyone can change. I believe that, but you have to want to change first.
I know Osbourn and I have never seen him bully up on anyone. He is quiet like Omar was but he has a weakness for being in the wrong crowd and like the saying goes, you sleep with dogs you catch fleas. I also do believe if the system did give him a chance he would have changed. Which is the case with many of us Caymanians. If you dont have certain strings in certain places it is very hard for people to give you chance in society. This is the case for Osbourn.
I believe these young girls. I dont believe these young ladies would jeapordize their lives & give evidence against 3 men they know are innocent & they know have a reputation for being violent for a boyfriend. I am sure they value their life more than that. I do believe they were indeed threatend and that is what helped them confess the truth. It is not odd that she was out at that time & in that place. It is her neighborhood & that is the custome. That has been going on for years, way before her & way after her it will continue because that is just how it is & many of us know it. Some people are just acting like it is unnatural because it may seem that way in the upper class society but for her & many others like her, it isnt unnatural. I have seen young kids, kids still in pre-school run up & down outside Ne Ne’s after 12am in the morning just because it’s their neighborhood & that has been a custom for years. Maybe now it will change because it seems like things have to happen for parents to be more responsible.
This case is sad people. Very sad. Even if justice was served. I feel for the mother’s & father’s of these young men. But things have to change. These young people had it in their mind that they could commit murder & get away if it was done a certain way because they dont think much of the detectives here like many of us and this time the system has proven them wrong. Instead of crying out injustice, we as a society, where it could have been anyone of us burying our child, need to be happy that the system is finally doing it’s job.
Reply to ”Let Me Start by Saying”
One of the best comments I have seen on here for a long time.
No need to comment further this person has said it all….
Very sad for all the families involved.
I’m sorry to say but these injustices have just begun. Had they been found not guilty the prosecution would have appealed and they would have been kept in prison awaiting another prosecution trial on a not guilty verdict.
But you’re right: while the jury didn’t have enough evidence to convict they returned a guilty verdict as a deterrent to other potential criminals, not that there was clear and sufficient evidence to support this verdict.
If all of these men were involved with the shooting, it really doesn’t matter who pulled the trigger. They were up to no good and did nothing to stop the person pulling the trigger. They share guilt in committing the offence by their mere presence. As one poster implied you lie down with a flea infested dog you will get up with fleas. A couple of lesson to all young people is to choose your friends carefully and think about the consequences of your actions and those around you should you become involved in illegal activities. You are your brothers keeper.
And so if you went out one night with several of your friends, and one of them (you not knowing who) pulled out a gun and shot someone else, I guess you are involved in the shooting and should be found guilty as well?
I think your not thinking!
I think the time has come that society has said "we’ve had enough – somebody’s going to pay for this crime". What they didn’t say loud enough for us all to hear and left to our imagination is: "We don’t care who it is – we’re going to make an example of somebody as a deterrent to everybody. Even if we’re convicting the wrong people we have to do something and somebody has got to pay, someone’s got to be the sacrificial lamb, someone’s got to bethe example".
Does this make it right? You’re absolutely right this is wrong. Murder is wrong. It has robbed a mother of her child and a child of its’ life. But is it right to rob another mother of her child for the rest of her life innocently because one mother lost hers? This is as bad or worse than the murder that was committed, which could have been committed with no thought. To come to a guilty verdict like I’ve seen here where there is more than enough doubt to return a not-guilty verdict was deliberated and contemplated and is the most wicked act that I have seen in a long, long time.
Let’s convict the guilty. Not those that we can’t prove guilt against without a wavering doubt.
I agree with you 100%!!
I dont know these young personally but i have been following the case and it is completely shocking to me that any logical individual could have, based on the evidence, found these 3 men guilty!
I agree with the mother who said "Convicting innocent men of a crime won’t solve the problem that we are facing in our community, My son is not a murderer, he does not carry a gun, but because of the bad things that are happening in Cayman it is influencing people to think all young men are bad. He is not guilty of this crime and the man who fired that bullet and killed Omar is still free. Justice has not been served,”
This case should not have been used to show criminals on the street what can be done if they continue to committ crimes. If that is what they (police, legal dept.) want then find the person that matches the eveidence or vice versa and properly convict the guilty!!
This is a sad day for all as i understand one these men has a young child. My prayers go out to the families of all involved. I hope one day Justice is truly served for the family of Omar.
Great result! 4 less scumbags for us to worry about in one case! If we could send 3 scumbags to prison for every murder on the island this year we’d be good to go!
These are humans, peoples’ sons, fathers! Right or wrong YOU should not refer to anyone that way!
How would you feel if someone called U SCUMBAG?
SCUMBAG!! (see…, bet you feel offended) My point exactly.
Who de cap fit, mek dem wear it!
If they aren’t SCUM BAGS then what are they? Law Abiding Citizens? Hah ha, yeah right.
They got what was coming to them and now they can rot in Northward for the rest of their lives, good riddance.
Sticking up for these thugs that are ruining this country’s image is something no one shoudl be doing, and if you are then a) you are one of them b) you can be excused for most likely being a family member.
After reading the comments from what seems to be from either non caymanians or caymanians or just maybe both whom apparently don’t come from the middle or poorer class neighborhoods that these particular young men came from. There is an old saying "see me n come live with me" what that means is that what see and know of me on the outside isn’t necessarly what you are gonna find on the inside, many of these cases of these guys "live by the gun die by the gun" mentality comes from the belief that everything will become easy if i can just catch i "break" and that "break" unfortunately comes in the form of the drug trade, and will all know once your in there are only two ways out, the grave or prison, therefore if the right break isn’t presented to these young men at the right time in their lives and encouraged and nourtured then the end result is exactly what we see in our communities today, with all the Lions,Leos,Chamber of Commerce, Cadet Corp, Big Brothers & Sisters just to name a few, the main focus of these community groups should be the children who ARE at risk, those who are of single parent homes, fatherless, because at the end of the day i know some of you may say it’s not "my problem" because of this or that, but just think when you are the one standing at the opposite side of that gun barrell what would you say then? Shoot me I don’t care "it’s not my problem you didn’t have anyone to give you any structure in your life" we are all the solution to this problem, once upon a time it took a village to raise a child and the children of cayman feared doing anything wrong, when that fear was lost so was the respect of life.
sir henry morgan YOU SCUMBAG!
remember you will have or have kid/s. you may have brother/sisters, cousins and close friends and anything can happen to them, innocently or justified.
becareful how you judge others you SCUMBAG!
Scumbags is too nice a term for these three. If they were my brothers or cousins it would not stop them being scumbags. Scumbags who lied through their teeth to try to get away with murder. Stop being an apologist for the lowest type of coward in our community.
I can’t say whether justice has been served or not as I am not much familiar with the case and do not know any of these individuals.
However, I can say one thing to all teenagers and young adults:
Be aware of who you are socializing with! You may not have any bad intentions but other people may be up to no good. The last thing you want have happening to you is being guilty by association!
So chose your friends carefully and if you smell a rat, walk away. Nobody is worth going to prison for!
To all parents:
Snap out of denial. Your children are ALWAYS up to something you are not aware of. We all were sneaking around behind our parents’ backs, so our children are doing it too! If one of your childrens’ friend is up to no good, chances are your child is right there with them doing things they shouldn’t be doing.
Im seeing where people are saying "justice" has been served….and I can bet that the majority of this illiterte people were not following the case and if they were would agree that "even if" these guys did indeed commit this crime, there was NOT enough evidence to convict them…."eye witness accounts" do not prove guilt…..and to me this is all that they had….Justice is only justice when it is correct/right justice. If it were you in their shoes and you were innocent…but were being told you were guilty…..how would you feel???
Seems like you might have an illiterate problem being you can’t even spell the word. Anyway I have been following up on this case and obviously you need common sense to be able to pick sense out of nonsense which there are many of you who don’t have it. I can pretty much bet my last dollar most of you are family and friends who feels that it is an injustice even if you know they are guilty you feel that they still don’t deserve prison for life. You are right they don’t especially not our prison they are deserving of much worse. Omar whom I never knew personally but I know was one armed never stood a chance against these three. He didn’t deserve death but that’s what he got he can’t speak for himself, neither can he ask for his life back. I have no pity. Throw away the keys on them.
He wasnt handicap that same night he went looking for his death as he had at least SIX altercations with different peoplewho gave police statements that say he used a gun in all the incidents!!
he had one arm! what would you call that then, if not handy capped? some of you really need to find something better to do with your lives. You really have face to go on tv, post comments on here justifying these three individuals?
It will be a very sad day in Cayman if these guys win an appeal. These men are guilty and they know they are and not only of this crime just that people have been afraid to come forward.I’m sure you must be a relative. It would have been great if they had won then you all could throw a big session to celebrate in central as I am sure was planned. Then they could brag to their gangster friends how they the MAN and murdered that boy and still walk. That is a beautiful example to set that you can take someones life and still walk free. Most of these guys couldn’t beat themselves out of a wet paperbag but boy they the MAN with the GUN. Please. These gangster wannabes are right where they belong, even dressed they way they were for court you could still see the gangster in them. Don’t know who they think they were fooling. The good lord above knows who you are and I am sure he had a hand in guiding the jury to their decision. It has to stop at some point and the time is now.
The RCIP, Witnesses and Jury did a great job. Now for Marcus Manderson he should be ashamed of himself. Such a coward. What happen did they threaten you in Northward? Give me a break when the lawyers said he couldn’t have possible known Trench fingerprints were their at the scene. They were using this man to get off of this case but it backfired. Sorry. Have a good life which I’m sure you still will in her Majesty’s Prison. Maybe we need to ship the likes of you somewhere else with some bigger badder guys so you can flex those muscles and show how much a MAN you really are. Right? Punks. You have no one to blame for your situation but yourselves. Who’s to blame for breaking your mother’s, baby mother’s, children, families hearts.YOU. Please don’t expect pity from the public if you could get away with it and do it again you would and not even think twice of the victims mother and family.
Again, have a nice life and ask god for forgiveness while you have the time.
I’ve been trying to read and keep up with all previous articles posted here on CNS in regards to this murder trial. The one thing that really gets to me is and please correct me if im wrong but to my knowledge the witness stated that she saw the 4 men get in to a brief scuffle which lead to one of them pulling a gun out and pointed it to the victims face and he heard two shots fire, she then runs for cover where she then apparently hear the remainder of the shots. When questioned by the police as to why she did not make an attempt to contact them or an ambulance, she stated that she was not sure if he was hurt…now im no genius but if you WITNESS A MURDER how the h*ll are you not sure if he was hurt ?!?!
Well, this case again proves that it certainly is true – "the way you live is the way you die." Omar was no saint – but these boys are not God. They had no right to take his life.
For those that don’t know – these boys are KNOWN felons. KNOWN gun-slingers so who cares if they go to jail for life?! Google their names if you don’t believe me. Not one of the three were not doing the country any good anyhow!? RCIPS I urge you now to check Facebook – at least one of these boys has access to Facebook and to me that’s not right. Prison is prison. Loss of freedom, means just that – loss of freedom. How hard is it to send a msg from there and order a hit on someone?!
To the families affected – nobody won yesterday, we all know that. But you all know what your sons’ capabilities are, so stop pretending like you don’t. I hate to hear families acting like they don’t know what these boys are involved in. Again, check their facebook pages! It’s all there for the public to see, if you WANT to see that is.
So CNS, I’m posting again – why was the verdict "unexpected"? Did the jury give you an inside scoop on how they were thinking on this matter?
No; I’m sure they didn’t.
I thought your role was to report on cases – not to judge them! The arrogance!!!
It was unexpected to the families and all who were really following the case… I’m sure your just reading line for line and taking each piece how you see fit instead of taking it as a whole story!
In most places if you are present and take part in an act the leads to the death of another you are just as guilty and held accountable. Who pulls the trigger does not necessarily matter because you knew your act could possibly and ultimately lead to the conclusion. This seems to be the case here as well.
When your elderlys tell you to watch your friends and the crowd you keep it means so very much because weather we beileve it or not the friends you keep have influence and effect on our life.
My prayers are with all families involved. We can raise our kids to the best of our ability and give them all that they desire but we can’t live for them. Just as we did, they have to make thier own decisions and have their own experiences.
I have served on juries and know how hard it is to get 7 people to agree. All of you who are saying that there was no evidence and this jury is wrong please remember that a murder trial requires TWELVE jurors to agree unanimously. None of us were in the courtroom and heard every bit of evidence like this jury did.
I refuse to criticize this jury. They may have (may have!) ultimately made the wrong decision, but I’m sure they did so conscientiously and through hard work.
The appeals process will play itself out.
Unless you area juror in any case, the strenght of a case or the lack of details of a case are only as good as the accuracy of the reporter.
We are all innocent out ya till a court of the people find you guilty of being a menace to society.
Is this really justice?!! the way I look at it is this the jury some how feels like they are obligated to say guilty. I am not family to these boy nor do i know them or their family but reading the case in the news there is something really wrong here.
Even if these men were involve, how would you know who fired the gun? Cayman if you don’t stand up and speak up these crimes will continue, and it dont solve anything by put the wrong people in jail.
I cannot have any remorse for these boys, obviously one of them did the shooting, if they did not have the courage to say who it was, then they all will have to pay the price. As for one of them parents defending her son, i have to shake my head profusely, because from I knew this boy all he did was bring shame and grief to his family from a child straight into adult hood.
I’m shocked that they were convicted. I thought all criminals in Grand Cayman got a get out of jail free card. Now if only they would go to a real prison and receive punishment instead of the Country Club Estates at Northward.
I take my hat off to the jury for being brave and strong enough to stand up against any pressure and deliver a guilty verdict.
The jury has done their job without fear and I pray that the appeals court does not undermine what the jury did and overturn this verdict.
Congratulations jury!
ok…..am i missin the problem here 1 man 1 shot and 3 young men hav to spend the rest of their lives in prison….. thts vnothing for the ppl of cayman to rejoice about…..
Yes you are missing the point! all 3 knew who did the shooting and all 3 were there to kill Omar, just because a gun only has 1 trigger doesnt make the other 2 innocent, they planned the murder together and went there to carry it out. If you arrived home and found me in your front yard and two of my friends ransacking your house, would you expect that I be let go ?
Have been coming to Cayman since when the airport had only a little house. I love to come and visit my family and to dive and have fun at night! Now everyone is telling me to be very carefull not to get jumped! I hope the Goverment understands that everyone is checking the news. Tourist need a police presence on SMB please.
People like you need to stop acting like Cayman is the only place in the world with rising crime issues. Take off your rose colored sun-glasses, Cayman is no different than the rest of the world. Deal with it!
The Eyewitnesses said 15 shots were fired, in the middle of the night in a poorly lit area. When police investigated the scene, how many bullet casings were found? Surely in the middle of the night in a dark area the shooters would not have been able to retrieve and abscond with the spend bullet casings.
“VIctims of a corrupt system!!!”
Enough said!!!
You are wrong! OMAR was the victim, these 3 are LUCKY they only got LIFE! All they have to worry about is their supply of soap on a rope, they will get 3 squares a day and cigarettes, drugs, alcohol, and one day they will announce from prison that they "found Jesus" and try to wash the sins away. Did Omar get that opportunity? no he was murdered…
I am one of those people that are very happy about this. Justice has definitely been served. I sympathize with the mothers but I am sorry you do the crime then you do the time. Just be thankful we don’t have the death penalty and you can still see your child unlike Omars family, Marcus family, little Jeremiah’s family, Josh family, Fabian’s family, Mings family , Tyrone’s family and so many other victims. I know as a parent myself, no parent want to believe their child is capable of murder but someones child has been killed and someone’s child has committed the murder. Majority of the time the police has the right person or persons such as in the case but most of the time witnesses are afraid to give evidence. I am proud of these young girls that came forward to make sure justice was done. This has nothing to do with the other crimes why they were found guilty , these men got what they deserved for what they did.
Keep up the good work RCIP. Let’s get all of these murderers off the street and keep them off to make Cayman a better place.
God bless.
This is definitely a case for appeal. It does not seem the jury convicted over fact but over controversial eye witness statement. Is it true that the girl that was the witness is the girlfriend of the person whose prints was actually found at the crime scene and not these 3 defendants? That alone should have excluded her as a witness as she had her boyfriend to protect. How can you get a fair witness like that?
I am pretty sure the appeal with be successful and once again we would have wasted taxpayer money with a botched up case with the wrong people being blamed. I smell a law suit as well as I am sure these 3 men have lost a lot out of their lives being locked up.
The jury is the tryer of fact. It is a matter for a jury to determine whether a witness is to believed and to assign appropriate weight to eyewitness testimony. That a jury would believe one person who gave testimony and not another is not a matter that is subject to review by appeals courts.
Appeals can and will be filed. Attorneys may argue a variety of issues, many of a technical nature. But they will not argue over which witnesses should, or should not, have been believed by the jury.
I followed this case and there was no evidence. How are they guilty. With the laws in the Cayman Islands when you get arrested instead of being told that anything you say wil be held against you will be told you are under arrest and you have no right. I am Caymanian and looking somewhere to live where the legal system is not so @#$#@ up.
This will be appealed and at that time, it will be overturned. The lack of EVIDENCE is what surprised most as to the jury returning with a guilty verdict.
In Cayman, hear-say is as good as the proverbial smoking gun.
Justice may have been served and the day the other young man lost his life was a sad day for him and his family – likewise this is a sad day for these young men and their families. Hopefully, a clear message will be sent and lessons learnt that there is a very high price to pay for murdering someone. Also it might bear well that our young people both men and women learn to be selective with the crowd that you hang out with because "if you hang with dogs you catch fleas". How very very sad.
I must be missing something here but it seems to me the crown had not gotten even close to proving its case……isn’ t the threshold reasonable doubt. its not good when juries convict without examining evidence and do what police say when they bring a poor case it makes the police think they don’t have to work, maybe these kids did do it but the crown sure never proved it and if juries reward the prosecution with a conviciton on a poor case you give them reason to continue to be sloppy.
Great detective work : ))
Justice has been served! Amen! God is in control! Remember that!
Well Done!!!!
Parents, I do hope this is a message to take control of your teen age men and women.
You will certainly cry for them if you do not put your foot down and take control.
Justice prevails…. Well done !!
Sure there’s plenty tol talk about negatively going on, but it’s results like this that give us law-abiding citizen’s hope that we victory is within our grasp. No doubt the families of the convicted will cry foul, but that’s to be expected, and my condolences regarding your suffering.
Much praise to the justice system and those that were brave enough to stand up and be counted.
I believe the mother of the defendant was right you can’t go around convicting the wrong people just because crime is rising. I’ve been following this case and from what I could see the eyewitness didn’t seem to fit with the forensics at all. This is not 1960 we have science we don’t need to rely on the proven flakiness of eye witnesses go with forensics as science doesn’t lie. What happens when you convict the wrong people is that the real killers roam free and become even more inflated in the belief they are untouchable.
Congratulations to Ms. Cheryl Richards QC and her legal team at securing these convictions against these gangsta defendants. Ms. Richards is an excellent lawyer who works tirelessly at the Legal Dept in these high profile cases. I hope she becomes our new (DPP) Director Public Prosecutions in the near future.
RCIPS deserves congratulations as well.
Hmmm!
Why, according to you, CNS, was the verdict "unexpected"?
YES!!
R.I.P. Omar!
I only hope that all of and the right individuals were found guilty for his murder.
Omar was no saint but he was still one of my personal loved ones with whom I shared many pleasant memories going back to early childhood.
Let this serve as a wake up call to all of you guys out there that are currently partaking in certain negative lifestyles.
Beware of the things in which you involve yourself, the people you associate with and the places that you hang around.
I have seen (and to a degree felt) firsthand the pain and heartache that such sudden, violent and tragic loss leaves behind for friends and family to endure.
Many thanks to the RCIPS and Crown prosecutors for this successful outcome.