– outlines how fellow gang members
executed attack
In yet another twist to the months-long High Court trial into the February 17, 2008 Bartica Massacre, Clebert Reece, who pleaded guilty on November 1, 2016 to manslaughter charges, took the stand on Thursday and testified to being part of the criminal gang that committed the deed, leaving 12 persons dead.
State witness and gang member Clebert Reece leaving the High Court in Georgetown on Thursday afternoon, escorted by Police
Reece, who was clad in a suit, spoke in a soft tone, which prompted defence Attorneys to complain numerous times of being unable to hear him properly. Reece, who is also known as “Chi Chi”, explained that on the day before the murderous acts were carried out, he had received threats via phone from “Sad Man”, believed to be gang leader Rondell “Fine Man” Rawlins, and he was later held up by four men armed with AK-47s and a car driver who carried a hand gun at East La Penitence.
According to Reece, they took him by car to the Parika bus terminal in Georgetown, from where he and two other men travelled by bus to Parika. The convicted killer further claimed that he was forcibly contracted to drive the gunmen by boat from Parika to Bartica, and to and from a resting place on a nearby island.
During the period of his many “forced” transits, he had driven the boat which had two drums of gasoline, to an old wharf in Tiger Bay, Georgetown, where he met up with a woman before he briefly saw his family. Reece stated that murder accused Dennis Williams called him via phone and he, along with seven other men, later boarded a boat once again and “Sad Man” put an AK to his back. He was not released, because, according to him, he was the one to fix any problems that arose with the boat’s engine.
During the afternoon session on Thursday, Recce claimed that on the night of the attack, a vehicle had come back where he and “Sad Man” spoke who reportedly instructed that they take guns and two vests and put them back into the boat at Bartica. Reece told the 12-member jury that “everybody start putting de stuff into de boat”. He stated that he, along with “Sad Man”, Dennis Williams, Mark Royden Williams, “Magic” and “Whiteboy” were all present. Reece said he later heard gunshots.
He said that 15 minutes later they came back to the stelling and had more guns and safes. The State witness claimed that Dennis Williams was armed with a rifle that held 20 rounds and he was present with “Mud Up” and “Chung Boy” when six persons – five Indo-Guyanese and one Afro-Guyanese – were shot.
Reece told the court that some time after, they boarded a boat and headed on a 45-minute journey to Sharima crossing, where they reached a “dark Tundra” pick-up.
The State witness claimed that he did not know what plans “Sad Man” had at this point. Among the gang members that Reece identified as present were: his cousin Michael Caesar, who also pleaded guilty to the crime; Dennis Williams, “Sad Man”, “Magic”, “Chung Boy”, “Small Friend” and “Smallie” (Mark Royden Williams).
The court later heard that after Reece set the boat adrift at a camp, two safes were opened. One contained raw gold, diamonds, a necklace and a stone, while the other had $1 million inside with a set of keys and a ziplock bag with two diamonds. Reece noted that Dennis Williams was 50 feet away from the camp when the safes were being opened.
The witness added that the men were all armed and were sitting watching a movie on a portable device. He further added that only he and his cousin knew about the raw gold. Reece told the court that he weighed 12 six-ounce parcels of gold, which were given (one each) to all of the gang members present.
After leaving the gang, Reece said he and his “child mother” in Georgetown retrieved a $500,000 down payment they had made for the purchase of a motor car to give to “Shem” who was sent by “Sad Man”. It was explained that this money was used to purchase food supplies. Reece was sentenced to 420 years in prison, while his cousin, Michael Caesar was handed a 1080-year cumulative sentence.
The men, along with Mark Royden Williams, Dennis Williams and Roger Simon, were allegedly part of the “Fine Man” gang, which attacked the town and fatally shot 12 persons, including Police Lance Corporal Zaheer Zakir and Constables Shane Fredericks and Ron Osborne. Edwin Gilkes, Dexter Adrian, Irving Ferreira, Deonarine Singh, Ronald Gomes, Ashraf Khan, Abdool Yasseen, Errol Thomas and Baldeo Singh were the civilians killed. (Shemuel Fanfair)
