Detective draws line between ‘suspect’ and ‘possible suspect’ in Clansman trial

A senior police investigator in one of the shootings allegedly carried out by the Clansman Gang in 2017 yesterday insisted that a “possible suspect” is not a suspect at all as the gang trial continued with further scrutiny of the Roger Avenue killing.

The evidence came during re-examination of a detective inspector attached to the Major Investigation Division (MID) in the trial involving alleged gang leader Tesha Miller and 24 others.

The witness had previously told the court, under cross-examination, that no suspect was identified in the September 2017 murder of Rastafarian George Richards. He later acknowledged that “possible suspects” had emerged during the investigation but denied that they were the same individuals whose names appeared in his police notebook.

Asked by the lead prosecutor to explain the distinction between a suspect and a possible suspect, the officer said the difference was significant. He noted that the law frowned on “fishing expeditions” and stressed that he did not believe in arresting people without proper investigations and tangible evidence.

He explained that a suspect is someone who investigators have identified as likely to be charged.

“A request is made for his arrest, he is interviewed, and following that interview, he is either charged or released,” the officer said.

A possible suspect, he added, is someone at a much earlier stage of the investigation. Such individuals are not yet suspects, but investigators begin preliminary work on information received, including analysing phone records and speaking with people in their surroundings to learn more about them.

“They may become suspects,” he said, adding that the police cannot simply ignore information that comes to them.

The detective was among the first investigators assigned to the September 16, 2017, murder of Richards, who was shot dead along Roger Avenue in Spanish Town, St Catherine. He testified that he was a detective sergeant and supervising officer at the time but that his involvement in the case ended in 2018.

OFFICER’S TESTIMONY

Throughout his testimony, the officer maintained that he never identified a suspect in the Richards murder, including the accused men, Dwayne Frater and Lamer Rowe, who prosecutors allege facilitated killings on behalf of a criminal organisation.

He acknowledged that “possible suspects” were identified early in the investigation but insisted that no one was ever elevated to suspect status.

During cross-examination by defence attorney Kymberli Whittaker, the detective said he had written two names in his police notebook but could not be certain whether the entries related to the Richards killing or another investigation. Regarding one of the names, he said he believed the individual was dead.

He told the court that he had spoken to that same individual on three occasions on an unrelated matter but never interviewed him about the Roger Avenue killing and never regarded him as a suspect in that case. He said the person was well known in the Spanish Town area but was unsure whether he would still be able to recognise him, having last seen him about nine years ago.

The witness also said that although he was unfamiliar with the second person named in his notes, he had not realised before coming to court that the other individual referred to was the same as the one the defence referred to.

Meanwhile, defence attorney John Mark Reid accused the witness of being evasive, shifting his evidence from having “no suspects” to acknowledging “possible suspects”, and attempting to mislead the court. The detective rejected those claims, saying he was not that type of person and that he was careful not to mislead the court.

He told the court that in his 35 years as an investigator with international experience, he often received hundreds of names through intelligence, anonymous calls, and other sources, all of which must be assessed before an individual can properly be classified as a suspect.

The Richards killing forms part of the Crown’s case alleging that members of the Clansman network carried out 16 criminal incidents across St Catherine, St Andrew, St Mary, and Clarendon between August 2017 and November 2022. The 32-count indictment includes charges of murder, conspiracy to murder, robbery with aggravation, shooting with intent, wounding with intent, and participation in a criminal organisation. All 25 accused have pleaded not guilty, with Miller named in about 13 counts.

The trial continues on Thursday before Justice Dale Palmer.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com