Search Results for 'andrew baptist'
Cops quiet on killing probes
(CNS): Despite handling two murder investigations that occurred within three weeks of each other, both of which appear to have direct connections to the spate of gang-related killings in Grand Cayman in 2011, the acting head of CID is saying very little about the enquiries. There have been no appeals to the public for assistance or descriptions of possible suspects released. Reluctant to say if the two murders are gang-related, DCI Malcolm Kay said that at present there was “nothing to suggest” that the murder of Earl Hart had anything to do with him being a witness in a murder trial last year, when CJ Scott was convicted of the killing of Asher McGraw in East End in September 2011.
Kay said that both of the murder enquiries were ongoing and there were no updates, following questions from the media about the state of the investigations. Kay has also denied any knowledge of Hart receiving threatening calls from inside the prison prior to the fatal shooting at his home last week.
The RCIPS appears to be reluctant to discuss the killings that have occurred during a spate of increased violent, gun-related crime that has stretched from North Side to West Bay. With public concern running high about the number of guns that may have made their way onto the island recently, the crime appears to be continuing, despite significant success in rounding up suspects. On Tuesday police confirmed than at least one shot was fired at a house in George Town sometime between Sunday night and early Monday afternoon.
With the police already stretched to their operational limits over the gun-related robberies and muggings, the murder enquiries have added significantly to that burden.
The first ofthe two killings this year was on Sunday 15 September in West Bay. Irvin Garlon Bush (52) was returning to his home in Daisy Lane at around 10pm Sunday night when he was shot dead by an unknown gunman or gunmen. Bush was the father of Robert Mackford Bush, who was the first of five victims of gang-related violence in a series of shootings in September 2011 from West Bay to East End.
Then, on Thursday 3 October 22-year-old Earl Hart was shot multiple times at his home in Marina Drive when he opened the door of his home to the gunmen. Aside from stating that they are looking for a dark brown motor car, believed to be a Honda Torneo, the police have said very little about the killing. Hart, who was pronounced dead at around 1:15 Friday morning at the George Town hospital, was a witness against Scott, who was convicted of killing McGraw, the fifth and last victim in the spate of violence that plagued Cayman two years ago.
In between the killing of Robert Mackford Bush and McGraw, Andrew Baptiste and Preston Rivers were also shot and killed in West Bay. Jason Christian was killed on Crewe Road and Keith Montague sustained multiple gunshot injuries but survived. Since then Brian Borden has been charged with Bush's murder and has been on remand at Northward since August last year.
Despite their general silence on the probe, police are asking anyone that may have information on either shooting or was in Daisy Lane or Marina Drive on the nights in question to call the RCIPS tip-line 949-7777, or Crime Stoppers 800-8477(TIPS) or the dedicated murder line 925 7240.
Arrest made for WB murder
(CNS): Police say a 22-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the death of Irvin Garlon Bush (52), who died of gunshot wounds on Sunday night. An RCIPS spokesperson said the arrest took place following a police operation in the Breakers area at around 5.30pm yesterday, Tuesday 17 September. He was arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in police custody while enquiries continue. Bush was shot in Daisy Lane in West Bay as he was entering his home at around 10pm on 15 September. The victim's son, Robert Mackford Bush, was killed in the district's gang related shootings in September 2011.
A murder investigation has been launched with an incident room at George Town police station. The murder incident room hotline is 925-7240.
Anyone who was in the area at the time of the shooting, or has any information can also contact George Town police station on 949-4222, the RCIPS tip-line 949-7777 or Crime Stoppers 800-8477 (TIPS).
The murder of Irvin Bush is the first this year and nine months since the last fatal shooing in the islands, when Jackson Rainford was shot and killed in George Town. Tareeq Ricketts (22) was convicted of his murder last month following a trial by jury and sentenced to life in prison.
Robert Mackford Bush, the son of the latest victim, as well as Andrew Baptiste and Preston Rivers were the three young men killed in the gang related violence two years ago in September 2011 in West Bay. Since then Brian Borden has been charged with Bush's murder and has been on remand at Northward since August last year.
Murder in West Bay
(CNS) Updated: Police have begun the first murder investigation in West Bay since September 2011, when there was a string of gang-related killings in the district. An RCIPS spokesperson confirmed the fatal shooting of a man in Daisy Lane at around 10pm Sunday night. Police said officers responded to a call that gunshots were fired in the area, and when officers arrived at the scene, they found that a man had been shot dead. The murder victim is Irvin Garlon Bush (52) of Miss Daisy Lane. "It would appear that he was entering his residence when he was attacked," police stated early Monday. The man is understood to be the father of Robert Mackford Bush, who was killed in the district's gang related shootings in September 2011.
A murder investigation has been launched with an incident room at George Town police station. The murder incident room hotline is 925-7240.
Anyone who was in the area at the time of the shooting, or has any information can also contact George Town police station on 949-4222, the RCIPS tip-line 949-7777 or Crime Stoppers 800-8477 (TIPS).
The murder of Irvin Bush is the first this year and nine months since the last fatal shooing in the islands, when Jackson Rainford was shot and killed in George Town. Tareeq Ricketts (22) was convicted of his murder last month following a trial by jury and sentenced to life in prison.
Robert Mackford Bush, the son of the latest victim, as well as Andrew Baptiste and Preston Rivers were the three young men killed in the gang related violence two years ago in September 2011 in West Bay. Since then Brian Borden has been charged with Bush's murder and has been on remand at Northward since August last year.
Witness trouble delays trial in gang killing
(CNS): A 27-year-old West Bay man who was scheduled to begin his trial in Grand Court this week for the murder of Robert Mackford Bush (28) during a gang related killing spree in September 2011 will now have to wait until March 2014 before he has his day in court. Brian Borden has denied being one of two masked gunmen who opened fire on Bush, but due to issues relating to the crown's key witness, his chance to defend himself has been postponed for the second time. Borden was arrested in August last year based on the evidence of one man. His lawyer told the court last week that he believed it would be impossible to go through with the trial because of an on-going police investigation into the witness.
Although those charged with murder are almost always remanded in custody, his defence attorney, Nick Hoffman, put the court on notice that said he intended to make a bail application for his client, who has already served more than ten months in jail without trial. Given the latest developments, Borden is looking at a further eight months on remand at HMP Northward, which would raise questions in regard to the bill of rights, which requires the justice is delivered in a timely fashion.
Borden has held his ground over his innocence since he was arrested based on the evidence of the crown’s leading witness. Although no details were revealed in the court about the questions over the key witness, it has caused a further and significant delay in the case.
Bush was shot multiple times in the head and body by two masked men while sitting his car at the junction of Capt. Joe and Osbert Road and Birch Tree Hill Road on 13 September 2011. The killing set off what were described by the police as a string oftit-for-tat gang related shootings in West Bay and George Town. No other charges or arrests were made in relation to the murder of Bush or the other three victims.
Andrew Baptist (27) was gunned down just two days later on Sand Hole Road, West Bay on 15 September by unknown masked gun men. His killing was followed by the murder of Preston Rivers (19), who was shot multiple times by at least two armed gunmen in Anderson Road, also in West Bay, on 17 September.
The shootings then moved to George Town, when Jason Christian (18) was killed in Cranbrook Drive off Crewe Road while sitting in a van with Keith Montague (22), who although also shot multiple times survived the attempt on his life.
Defence queries crown evidence in murder case
(CNS): The defence attorney representing a 27-year-old West Bay man charged with the murder of Robert Mackford Bush questioned the source of the crown's evidence against his client. Nick Hoffman, representing Brian Borden, who was charged with murder earlier this month, asked the court Friday for further disclosure from the crown and in particular the circumstances under which a witness statement was given to police by a man who has now been convicted of armed bank robbery. Borden was originally arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of Bush in West Bay almost a year ago but was later released.
Hoffman said he needed to see more details on why the police now believed his client was the killer. Warning that there were also legal issues with the wording of the indictment against Borden, Hoffman said that if the crown intended to build its case on a statement that has “appeared out of the blue” from an alleged witness who has admitted his part in a bank robbery, it needed to re-word the indictment.
Hoffman said that all of the other statements he had received relating to his client were more than nine months old and appeared to have been taken at the time of the shooting, which, he noted, the crown did not think had mounted to a case against Borden. Therefore, he needed to know what it was about this latest statement that had led to his client being charged.
Asking for all relevant material pertinent to the case to be served as soon as possible, Hoffman requested an adjournment until 7 September. Borden was remanded in custody to HMP Northward.
The West Bay man is accused of being one of two gunmen that the police believe shot Bush in a gang-related killing in September last year. He was sitting in his vehicle at the junction of Capt Joe and Osbert Road and Birch Tree Hill, West Bay, when two gunmen reportedly opened fire. The killing triggered a spate of gang-related killings, in which Andrew Baptist, Preston Rivers and Jason Christian also lost their lives.
Keith Montague, who was with Christian when he was killed off Crewe Road, was also shot multiple times but survived after he flagged down a passing police car and was taken to hospital.
Two arrests for gang shooting
(CNS): Two teenagers have been arrested in connection with the first of a series of what the police suspected were gang related killings last year. The men, aged 17 and 18, have been arrested and are currently detained in police custody on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the shooting death of 28-year-old Robert Mackford Bush (left) in West Bay on 13 September 2011. Police say the arrests took place during a large scale police operation in the West Bay earlier today, Thursday 23 February, in which a number of houses were searched and a quantity of ammunition was seized. In addition another man was arrested for threatening violence and a woman for possession of Ganja.
At the time of the murder, police said that Bush had been shot in the head while sitting in a blue Honda civic at around 11:20pm at the junction of Capt Joe and Osbert Road in the Birch Tree Hill area, in what was the first fatal shooting in twelve months. He had received at least one wound to the head and had died at the scene.
Emergency services, including the Uniform Support Group, were on the scene within five minutes of the call being received from a woman who was with Bush in the car when the victim was shot, and specially trained firearms dogs were deployed at the scene. The police said that the woman was treated in hospital for injuries sustained at the same time, but could not say if she had been shot as well.
Bush had been arrested and charged in July 2011 for an assault in connection with an incident that took place at a bar in Hell, West Bay, for which the victim had been bailed. His death triggered a spate of gun violence in what was thought to be tit-for-tat gang shootings. Within 8 days five young men were dead and a sixth seriously injured.
After Bush was gunned down Andrew Baptist and Preston Rivers were both shot and killed two and four days later respectively, also in West Bay. Jason Christian was shot dead as he sat in a white van in CranbrookDrive just off Crewe Road just two days after that. Keith Montague received multiple gunshot wounds but survived his injuries after flagging down a nearby police vehicle.
Then, in the early morning hours of Thursday, 22 Septemebr, police on patrol in East End found the slain body of Asher McGaw on John Mclean Drive. Police Commissioner David Baines said that athough this was probably a gang killing it was not directly connected to the West Bay feud between the Birch Tree Hill and Logswood gangs.
Police enquiries into Robert Bush’s murder are ongoing, an RCIPS spokesperson said.
No charges as UK cops leave
(CNS): The police commissioner has confirmed that twelve of the UK officers who came to assist the RCIPS in the wake of five murders in just over a week in September have already left Cayman. As the officers go home following the end of their six week term agreed with the forces in the north west of England there have been no further charges in the gang related shootings. David Baines said that they had, however, helped to speed up lines of enquiry, eliminated some and focused attention on others. Since the spate of gang violence the police have arrested three men. One was charged with the murder of Asher McGaw in East End but two others arrested for the killing of Andrew Baptist have been released on police bail. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)
Although most of the officers had left Cayman by Wednesday, Baines said that eight officers will remain in Cayman until 10 December to allow them to complete the specific actions that they have been involved in.
"The further period of their deployment has arisen due to the continuing lines of enquiry that have been revealed and progressed jointly with the RCIPS detectives,” the commissioner said. “Their efforts have complimented and supported their RCIPS colleagues, with whom an obvious camaraderie and professional rapport has been established, with each benefiting from their collective effort, sharing of experiences and training.”
The deployment was always intended to be only a temporary situation to assist local officers in the early stages of the investigation with the workload and not to take over the enquiries.
"The injection of experienced detectives to an overstretched investigation team, faced with five murders simultaneously, has enabled all lines of enquiry to be progressed expeditiously, some to be eliminated quickly and others to be the focus of our attentions,” Baines said.
The commissioner thanked the forces and officers involved for the assistance provided to local RCIPS officers which he said had “worked and continue to work unstintingly to bring those responsible for the violence to justice,” he added.
Since the UK officers arrived in October the RCIPS have also arrested one man for the murder of Kerran Baker, a 25-year-old Jamaican dental practice nurse who went missing in July. The man was arrested last Thursday but no charges have yet been brought in what is now believed tobe the first murder of 2011.
The gang related violence began in West Bay on the night of 13 September when Robert Bush (28) was shot in the head by at least two gun men while sitting in a blue Honda civic at the junction of Capts Joe and Osbert Road in the Birch Tree Hill. Less than 48 hours later Andrew Baptist (24) was shot multiple times by two masked gunmen while he was sitting in a yard in Sand Hole Road. Then Preston Rivers was also gunned down by masked men in Anderson Road in the district on Saturday 17 September.
The next two victims were shot while sitting in a van in the Crewe Road area teenager Jason Christian who was shot in the head and body was killed at the scene while his friend Keith Montague survived multiple gunshot wounds and was able to stagger to a nearby police patrol car for assistance.
Asher McGaw (21) who was gunned down in East End as he walked along John McLean Drive was dead when an police patrol car found him in the early hours of Thursday 21 September the last of the victims in the spate of gun violence. Police charged 18-year-old Chakame Jamelle Scott who was arrested before the arrival of the UK officers with McGaw’s murder in October. Two suspects were arrested by police in targeted operations in West Bay and Newlands on 2 November but both men have since been released on police bail.
‘Snorkelling squad’ cost less than CI$3000
(CNS): The answer to a freedom of information request submitted by CNS has revealed that the recent short visit by senior police officers from Merseyside in the UK cost the public purse well under CI$3,000. The visit by the officers stirred up considerable controversy, especially in the UK, when British journalists pictured the senior cops lounging on the beach and on a day trip aboard the police commissioner’s boat. The three officers stayed in Cayman for four days and the RCIPS picked up the tab for their car, hotel and daily expenses but did not pay their flights or a fee for their time. (Photos by Splash News)
The FOI request reveals that the three men stayed at the Marriott Hotel, which cost a total of CI$1,386 for three rooms for four nights. The car hire cost for the officers was CI$249.26 and each of men also received $75 expenses per day, which came to a total of CI$1,125 for the duration of the visit. In total the cost of bringing out the three officers was $2760.26.
The RCIPS said it had been willing to pay the cost of the three offiers' flights but the information manager said that Cayman had not received a bill from the UK for them.
They later sent 20 UK officers to assist the RCIPS in the five murder and one attempted murder investigations opened in September as a result of a spate of gang related killings,
According to Police Commissioner David Baines, the short visit was designed to allow the Chief Constable of Merseyside Jon Murphy, Det Chief Supt Brian McNeill from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and Det Chief Supt Tony Doherty, head of the Merseyside force’s Matrix gun and organised crime squad, to not only review where they would be sending their twenty UK officers but to advise the RCIPS how best they could be used. They also reviewed the investigations and offered some advice on gang crime, the commissioner said.
During the four-day visit journalists from the Daily Mail tailed the officers and took snaps of them enjoying down time, which appeared to conflict with the official timetable of the work the men were said to be doing.
The British tabloid reported that the photos showed the officer “sunbathing, snorkelling, sightseeing, reading novels and soaking up the sun in 84F heat”, which it said was unlikely to go down well with colleagues back in Liverpool as they worked in a chilly 55F. “Over two days, they were seen relaxing on the beach, enjoying a four-hour boat trip and swimming with giant stingrays on a beautiful coral reef,” the Daily Mail said of the senior officers during their Cayman trip.
The three UK top cops reportedly arrived on in the evening of Monday 3 October but were followed by the Daily Mail through Wednesday 5 and Thursday 6 October. The paper reported that the officers were involved in meetings with the RCIPS from around 9pm until before 4pm on Wednesday, when the police were on the beach at their hotel but on Thursday the reporters watched the officers enjoy almost a full day of leisure activities.
Murphy accused the reporters of spying on him, while the commissioner said all three officers had on average worked 12 hours a day. "I think it's a travesty that it's being presented in the way that it is," Baines told the UK media in the wake of the Daily Mail report.
Since the visit, twenty officers from different police forces in the northwest of the UK have reportedly been partnering with local detectives working on the September shootings. So far, police have charged one man with the last of the murders which took place in East End. Chakame Jamelle Scott (18) was charged last month with the murder of 21-year-old Asher Williams McGaw.
Although officers also arrested two men on 2 November in a special operation in connection with the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Andrew Baptist in West Bay, no charges have been announced against these two suspects and police have not yet confirmed if the men have been released from custody.
The murder investigations are continuing into the five incidents and the UK officers are expected to remain in Cayman until the end of this month.
Suspect shooters arrested
(CNS): Two men have now been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Andrew Baptist, police have confirmed. The suspected gunmen were taken into custody by officers during two early morning operations in West Bay and Newlands on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the RCIPS said that the men have both been arrested on suspicion of murder and enquiries into the gang related shooting continue. Baptist was the second victim to be gunned down in a spate of gang related killings in September when this year’s local murder toll leapt from zero to five in a space of eight days.
The West Bay man was shot multiple times by two masked men while sitting outside a property in Sand Hole Road on Thursday 15 September in what police believed was a resurgence of local gang feuds. Baptist was shot in the wake of the killing of 28-year-old Robert Bush, who was murdered on Tuesday 13 September while sitting in a car at the junction of Capts Joe and Osbert Road and Birch Tree Hill.
Baptist’s murder was followed by the fatal shooting of West Bay teenager Preston Rivers (18), who was also killed in the district on Saturday 17 September on Anderson Road.
The gang related shooting then moved to George Town, where 19-year-old Jason Christian was shot dead and Keith Montague was severely injured after both of them were targeted by masked gunmen while sitting in a van in Crewe Road on 20 September. Then, in the early morning hours of Thursday 22 September, police on patrol in East End found the gunned down body of Asher McGaw on John McLean Drive.
Faced with five murder enquiries in just over one week, the RCIPS called in support from the UK to assist with the investigation. Around twenty officers from forces across the northwest of England flew to Cayman last month to partner will local detectives with the aim of tracking down the shooters and securing enough evidence for convicitons.
Cops find ammo during ‘intelligence’ led raid
CNS): Police discovered two types of small arms ammunition on Tuesday following what an RCIPS spokesperson described as an “intelligence led operation” in the district of West Bay aimed at reducing gun crime. The search, which reportedly lasted several hours in the Birch Tree Hill area, covered a number of houses and open land and resulted in the discovery of what the police described as a small quantity of ganja as well as the abandoned ammunition. Police also stated that an arrest was made during the operation but confirmed it was not in connection with the recent spate of murders in the district, but for drugs. CNS has asked the RCIPS a number of questions regarding various reports of complaints in relation to the raid. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)
The police stated that if anyone believed they had grounds for complaint in respect of the actions of the RCIPS they should contact the Professional Standards Unit and the matter would be fully investigated.
Police are currently prioritising the murder investigations and it is understood that the twenty UK officers who have been shipped from the north of England to help what the British press have dubbed Cayman’s “desperate detectives” have now all arrived on island. According to Jon Murphy, the UK chief constable and ACPO representative that has supervised the secondment of the officers, they will not be telling local cops how to do their jobs but partnering with local officers in an effort to bring the shooters in the most recent spate of murders to justice.
Police charged 18-year-old Chakame Jamelle Scott with the murder of Asher McGaw on Tuesday and he has been remanded in custody and is dues to appear in Grand Court on Friday. McGaw was the fifth victim of a series of fatal gang shootings which took place over an eight day period in September. Police are still looking for the killers of Robert Bush, Andrew Baptist, Preston Rivers and Jason Christian.
Senior officer have not yet stated if they believe any of the victims of the shootings may also have been perpetrators.