2 Policemen charged for “Saga” murder

By Paula Gomes

As the Guyana Police Force (GPF) slowly unravels the web of several notorious murders and robberies following recently-acquired intelligence, former Best Cop Derwin Eastman and Jamison Williams who were implicated in the murder of businessman Godfrey Scipio, called “Saga”, were on Thursday hauled before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts where they were jointly arraigned on the capital offence of murder.
It was a mixed atmosphere at the courts as relatives of both the accused and the victim, coupled with media operatives and even prisoners in the lockups, anxiously awaited the arrival of Eastman and Williams.
The accused cops were not required to plead to the indictable charge read by presiding Magistrate Judy Latchman, to the effect that on October 12, 2017 at Stanley Place, David Street, Kitty, they murdered Scipio, during the course or furtherance of a robbery.
Defence lawyers Nigel Hughes and Dexter Todd raised concerns about the safety of their clients given that the men are both involved in investigations of numerous persons on remand; therefore, imprisonment would only place their lives in jeopardy.
Responding to the Magistrate’s inquiry on the issue of safety, Police Prosecutor Steven Telford cited the nature of the charge while indicating that the issue of safety now lay in the hands of prison authorities. However, he reassured the court that these concerns would be communicated to the relevant authorities.
Hereafter, Magistrate Latchman declared the men remanded to prison and adjourned the case to December 5, 2017 before the court of the Chief Magistrate.
On the fateful day of October 12, 2017, Scipio, the 58-year-old proprietor of a D’Urban Street restaurant, was robbed of a quantity of gold jewellery and shot dead shortly after leaving a Kitty hotel.

Aubrey Bob, a 26-year-old resident of Kitty, was recently charged for the brutal killing, but subsequent intelligence reaching the Police implicated the former Best Cop and his colleague in the purportedly calculated murder.
According to Bob, Eastman is the alleged mastermind of the killing: hiring the hitman and even providing the firearm used to execute the offence. Eastman reportedly had everything planned out, assuring the hitman that a lady would deliver the target to the spot as he directed the killing to be executed in such a way to appear a robbery. Notwithstanding the assurance of protection given by Eastman, reality struck when Bob returned home the next day to find his “employer” in the company of other Police ranks, ready to arrest him.
The accused was reportedly forced to make a false confession as he was intimidated by Eastman’s presence at every step of the interrogation process. However, when Bob became aware of William’s arrest, he grasped the opportunity to relate what he alleged was the true version of the story.

The indictable charge against Eastman and Williams was laid mere days after the former turned himself in to Police authorities at the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) Headquarters at Eve Leary, Georgetown after contacting the media and proclaiming his innocence.
However, acting Crime Chief Paul Williams had seemed oblivious of the development as he cautioned members of the public to be aware of information being spread about the murder of “Saga” while Police seek information to nail the now deceased man’s killer, mere hours prior to the men’s arraignment before the courts.
Williams was speaking against the backdrop of reports that four Police Constables were allegedly linked to the murder of Scipio, who was gunned down in front of a city’s hotel on the night of October 12. The acting Crime Chief believes that the release of premature information led to the current rumours.
“I’m telling you while it is being prematurely released, they are being insensitive also and this could compromise the investigation and that in itself is going to put us in an uncompromising position,” Williams told the media on Thursday when asked to comment on the investigations.
He was also quick to point out that under his watch, “there is no way any type of investigation or any type of evidence will be fabricated to support or satisfy what is being released in the public domain. I haven’t released them and whoever did, sorry, but I’m not going to make that happen.”
However, he told members of the media that if after checking on these matters and in the end there was no evidence to substantiate any criminal charge, but it became a departmental matter, then this would bring embarrassment to the Police Force and as a result, if anyone is found guilty ‘departmentally’, persons would be dismissed.
“We are investigating the matter, but we need the public to understand that there is a man who has made a confession when this crime was perpetrated. In his confession, there is no way he implicated any policeman or even to the effect that any person whether a member of the security or the Joint Services would have been involved. Then a few months after, there is a revelation that yes, these are the persons who plotted with him to commit the crime. We cannot just take that statement for what it is and just run with that. We will have to look for corroborative evidence to the effect that there would have been a time, a place of meeting, a place of discussion and everything else and so forth. And whatever is the corroborative evidence that can support that meeting, we will have to check it out. If there is any communication via telephone, we will have to check those records. Now we have to understand very seriously that these are Policemen out there fighting crimes. There are a lot of persons they would have put behind bars and if we hastily charge these Policemen and put them behind bars and their lives are jeopardised, that is a grave mistake on our part,” he said.
Moreover, the acting Crime Chief deemed recent media reports about the possibility of Scipio’s murder being linked to the recapture of prison escapee Royden “Smallie” Williams as “totally wicked and misinformed information fed to the public”.
According to him, Williams’ recapture came from intelligence-led “posture” between both the Police and the Joint Services, and Scipio had at no time provided any information.