“Saga’s” murder
…as probe still incomplete
On Friday, Prosecutor Neville Jeffers informed the court that the prosecution’s file is incomplete, almost a month after two Police Officers and an alleged hitman were remanded to prison for the murder of businessman Godfrey “Saga” Scipio.
Aubrey Bobb, a 26-year-old ex-convict of Kitty, Georgetown, was first charged for the brutal killing of Scipio but subsequent intelligence reaching the Police implicated the former Best Cop, Derwin Eastman and his colleague, Constable Jamison Williams in the purportedly calculated murder. Eastman and Williams were hereafter hauled before the court and charged accordingly.
Jeffers said two separate Preliminary Inquiries (PIs) will be conducted into the cases; Bobb who was charged separately, will be tried before Magistrate Leron Daly while Eastman and William’s case remain before the Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennan.
When the duo appeared before the Chief Magistrate on Friday, Eastman’s lawyer, Nigel Hughes vented frustration at the lagging investigation and opined that legal proceedings should not have been initiated whilst investigations were at a premature stage.
This has been a frequent complaint of lawyers, who campaign for the rights of their clients, some of whom spend unreasonably long periods on remand before their matter is ripe for trial. The Chief Magistrate had recently bashed prosecution for commencing proceedings in the face of in incomplete investigation. However this was the case of a convicted prisoner, Mohammed Ali, who was charged for impersonating First Lady Sandra Granger, to extort monies out of victims in a well-organised scholarship scam.
Eastman and Williams will return to court on January 22, 2018 when statements are expected to be disclosed.
Scipio was gunned down just as he exited a popular Kitty hotel with a female companion on October 12, 2017, in the furtherance of a robbery. He succumbed at the Woodlands Hospital shortly after.
In a statement to the Police, Bobb purported Eastman to be the mastermind behind the brazen daylight murder and robbery. He accused the former Best Cop of hiring him as the hitman and even providing weapons to facilitate the smooth execution of the plan. Eastman reportedly had everything planned out; even assuring the hitman that a lady would deliver the target to the spot whilst directing 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.
