Killer gets another 20 years

(CNS): Already serving two mandatory life sentences for murder convictions, 31-year-old Raziel Omar Jeffers was given a 20 year jail term by the chief justice on Friday for the manslaughter of Marcos Mauricio Duran. Chief Justice Anthony Smellie said there were no mitigating circumstances in the case, and given Jeffers' previous offences and his lack of remorse, the sentence had to fall at the upper end of the guidelines. Despite the anticipated introduction of tariffs next year, Jeffers is looking at a lifetime behind bars. He, like other lifers, will be able to apply to the court to set a tariff to the two life sentences but the tariff is merely a starting point for the consideration of parole and not a release date.

Jeffers was not accused of pulling the trigger in this case but of masterminding a robbery and arming young 'soldiers' from the Birch Tree Hill gang for the job. Austin Jackson and Craig Johnson, who the crown said in Jeffers' trial were part of the hold-up in which Duran died, and Joshua Ebanks, who the crown said was the one who shot him, have never stood trial in regards to the fatal robbery in West Bay in March 2010. Jordan Manderson was charged and tried for his murder but was acquitted in June 2011. 

Jeffers, who is now serving two mandatory life sentences and one 20 year term, has continued to deny all of the allegations against him.

His local legal representation has not yet stated whether or not they will appeal this latest manslaughter conviction but they confirmed Friday that the team is already working on an appeal for his conviction for the murder of Damion Ming earlier this year.

Jeffers has already lost one case in the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal for the killing of Marcus Ebanks and the attempted murder of four other boys on the same evening outside Bonaventure boys home in West Bay in July 2009, but his team is seeking to overturn his conviction in relation to the Ming shooting based on errors in the judge’s directions to the jury. Ming's death took place in Birch Tree Hill in March 2010, just days after the Duran killing, 

As in the case against Jeffers for the killing of Duran and his conviction for the murder of Marcus Ebanks, the evidence against him in the Ming shooting was based heavily on a confession Jeffers made to his girlfriend about the three killings. In three trials the defence team was unable to break the testimony of Meagan Martinez, who has been unwavering in her account of the confession.

Her testimony regarding Jeffers' confession to her about his crimes was admissible in his trials but, under the hearsay law, would not be admissible in the trial of any person who was not present when the confession took place.

Martinez, who is the mother of Jeffers' son, is currently in a witness protection programme and is living overseas. But during the trial she raised her concerns about the extent of that protection and how long it will endure now that the crown has prosecuted all three of its cases against Jeffers.

Related stories on CNS:

Jeffers guilty of third killing (18 August 2014)

Jeffers guilty of killing Ming (3 April 2014)

Judge finds Jeffers guilty (23 February 2012)

Teen not guilty of murder (21 June 2011)