Former Best Cop Derwin Eastman to lead defence in murder PI
Former Best Cop Derwin Eastman has opted to lead a defence as the Preliminary Inquiry (PI) into the October 2017 murder of businessman Godfrey “Saga” Scipio continues in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
(L-R) Murder accused: Former Best Cop Derwin Eastman, Aubrey Bobb and Jamison Williams
Eastman and former policeman Jamison Williams are jointly charged for the murder of Scipio, which took place on October 12, 2017, in Kitty, Georgetown.
On Friday, Magistrate Fabayo Azore ruled that a prima facie case had been made out against the two murder accused at the close of the case for the prosecution. In response, Eastman and Williams elected to lead a defence.
Murdered: Godfrey “Saga” Scipio
They are expected to do so on December 11, 2020, when they will call witnesses to testify on their behalf.
Also charged with the murder is Aubrey Bobb, a 26-year-old ex-convict, of Kitty, Georgetown. Bobb was the first to be charged and later would have implicated the two former policemen in a caution statement he gave to the police.
In February 2019, Bobb was committed to stand trial at the High Court for the businessman’s murder following the conclusion of a separate Preliminary Inquiry (PI).
Based on reports, 64-year-old 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 later succumbed at the Woodlands Hospital.
In his statement to the police, Bobb purported Eastman to be the mastermind behind the brazen daylight killing. 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 while directing the killing to be executed in such a way as to appear like a robbery.
Notwithstanding the assurance of protection given by Eastman, reality struck when Bobb returned home the next day to find Eastman, in the company of other police ranks, ready to arrest him.
He had claimed that he was forced to make a false confession as he was intimidated by Eastman’s presence at every step of the interrogation process.
