Cops find no evidence of connections in killings

| 16/10/2013

(CNS): Despite what appear to be indirect connections to at least two of the three murders on Grand Cayman in the last month, one of the senior officers overseeing the cases said that so far there is no significant evidence to suggest that they are linked or even gang-related. DCI Malcolm Kay said that investigators on the three separate murder enquiries were communicating and reviewing the history but there was little evidence to join the three fatal shootings. DCI Kay also said that there was nothing at all to suggest that Earl Hart (left), who was gunned down in his own home in Prospect on 3 October, was shot because he was a witness in a 2012 murder case.

Kay emphasised that the police had no reason to believe that fatal shooting of Irvin Bush, as he arrived at his Daisy Lane home in West Bay on 15 September, had anything to do with the fatal shooting of his own son two years before.

Robert Mackford Bush was shot and killed as he sat in a car at the junction of Capts Joe and Osbert Road and Birch Tree Hill on 13 September 2011. This triggered a series of gang-related shootings, which resulted in the death of four more young men and the serious injury of a fifth. The last in the string of shootings over the ten day period was the murder of Asher McGaw in East End. In what police called only a coincidence, Earl Hart was a witness in the trial in which Chakane Jamelle "CJ" Scott was convicted of the murder.

Anthony "Beenie" Connor was killed on Friday night outside of the Mango Tree restaurant and there appears to be no links with him and the 2011 series of murders. At the time he was serving a lengthy sentence in HMP Northward, having been found guilty of robbery in 2006. Connor was convicted of a robbery at Durty Reids restaurant and bar, which took place in 2005. He was sentenced to twelve years and was only released from jail this summer.  However, Connor’s mother was also shot in a violent incident outside a George Town bar during a previous spate of gang-related gun violence in 2010. She survived being shot in the face.

With the police remaining unconvinced that the murders are linked or gang-related, Kay said he was appealing for anyone who was at the Mango Tree or passing by on Friday either just before or just after the shooting, which happened around 8:45pm, to contact them as even the smallest most insignificant piece of information may help the police.

“The information may seem insignificant to you but it could be the part of the jigsaw that will help us put the picture of the crime together,” he said, as he urged people to call any of the police stations, the hotline numbers, 911 or Crime Stoppers.

Offering his condolences to the family and friends of the victims, he said the police were working hard on all three cases and had moved officers from various specialist units onto the murder investigations. Kay said that two arrests have been made so far in the Bush case, with one man being released and a second still on police bail as the investigation continued.

No arrests have yet been made in either of the other two cases but the RCIPS will not be looking for outside assistance. Chief Superintendent Kurt Walton explained that since the last major spate of killings in Cayman, the RCIPS had successfully filled the various investigative skills gap. He also noted that while a temporary group of officers from the UK had assisted in the spate of 2011 killings, the only murder in that case to be solved so far was thekilling of Asher McGaw, which was solved by local officers.

Anyone who may have any information at all or observed anything suspicious or unusual around the time of the three killings is urged to call the police hotline at 949 7777, the incident room on 925-7240 Crime stoppers at 800 TIPS (8477), 911, or any police station or officer that they know.

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  1. Anonymous says:

    They are related in the fact they were all young men who were shot and killed.    Sorry I don't by it..they are gang related all day long. If not then this means wild animals are roaming the streets looking for hooligans that fit the gang description and are shooting them for fun. …..

    • Anonymous says:

      If there is absolutely no connections, than I think we have a bigger problem….are you gonna say someone decides to knock on someone's door randomly and just kill them??? I don't think so….

  2. ex-RCIPS says:

    I often wonder if many RCIPS officers (including a number of fairly senior ones) could find their backsides with both hands and a map when things like this happen. A few days ago someone posted reference to the shooting of Marlon Brando Ebanks in 2007. By the time RCIPS secured that crime scene the local 'rubber neckers' had trashed the place so badly any hope of obtaining legally admissable forensic evidence was long gone. What RCIPS seems to lack is a basic understanding of what resources a major incident such as a murder requires and a valid game plan to tackle it.

  3. Admiral Benbow says:

    One is left to conclude that our police force is a little “shy” and simply unwilling or unable to give battle to the enemy.

    • Anonymous says:

      Stop blaming the police……..

      Clean up your own culture of producing dozens of unwanted children to teenage parents then dumping them on social services for us to pay for.

      • Anonymous says:

        Those are two separate problems each of which must be tackled. The police do not get a free pass because of the other. We are funding them to the tune of 10s of millions of dollars every single year and we expect results, not deflections.

  4. Anonymous says:

    So what is known. A few men are dead for seperate reasons. Great. This is usefull. We have no confidence in the RCIP. Baines is on holiday, not that it would make a difference. The Police are incompetent and while a few try hard, it is just not good enough. Walton’s speech on Cayman27 is just beyond belief. We could care less about his wide shoulders. We could care less that their feelings are hurt. They can accept being criticized. They better get use to it.

    • Anonymous says:

      They couldn't find evidence if it dropped on their faces and wiggled to the tune of LAW and ORDER!!!!

  5. WHAT !!!!!!! says:

    Oh Please RCIP must be the only ones that not figured this is GANG RELATED or DRUG RELATED

  6. Anonymous says:

    Cant find an escape prisoner cant find a fleeing driver  who is lost a sea cant find this can find that  But a man with a ganja splif and a expired coupon on his vehicle an a cellphone by his ear has a virtual  bullseye put by RCIPS walking round with a woody for him. Errybody knows whats going in Cayman besides them Unnah should be ashame of  yourselves with unnah bunch of foreign police.

  7. Anonymous says:

    Should be "Cops find no evidence, ever."

  8. Anonymous says:

    If these murders are not related in anyway, (as per DCI Malcolm Kay) then we ALL need to be scared for our lives, because anyone of us could be the next victim.