Former best cop Derwin Eastman and officer 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 charged with the capital offence of murder.
The accused men were not required to plead to the indictable offence read by presiding Magistrate Judy Latchman, to the effect that on October 12, 2017 at Stanley Place, David Street, Kitty, they allegedly murdered Scipio, during the course or furtherance of a robbery.
Defense Lawyers Nigel Hughes and Dexter Todd, raised concerns of the safety for their clients on the basis 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 Tellford cited the nature of the charge while indicating that the issue of safety would now lie in the hands prison authorities. However, he reassured that these concerns will be communicated to the relevant authorities.
Thereafter, Magistrate Latchman remanded the men to prison and adjourned the case to be heard on December 5, 2017 before the court of the Chief Magistrate.
On October, 12, 2017, Scipio, the 58-year-old proprietor of a Durban Street restaurant, was robbed of his jewelry and shot dead shortly after leaving a Kitty hotel.
Aubrey Bob, 26, of the Kitty community 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.
Bob said he 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 he became aware of Williams’ arrest he grasped the opportunity to relate the true version of the story.
The indictable charges against Eastman and Williams were laid mere days after Eastman turned himself over to police authorities at CID Headquarters at Eve Leary, Georgetown after contacting the media and proclaiming his innocence.
Meanwhile, acting Crime Chief Paul Williams on Thursday cautioned members of the public to be aware of information being spread about the murder of Scipio while police seek information to nail the deceased’s killer.
“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 just 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 those behind bars and their lives are jeopardized that is a grave mistake on our part”, he said.
Moreover, the acting crime chief deemed recent media publications about the possibility of Saga’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 gathering between both the police and the joint services and Saga had at no time provided any information.
