| By Dale Andrews and Michael Jordan The Criminal Investigations Department of the Guyana Police Force is contemplating the establishment of a Cold Case Unit to deal specifically with unsolved cases. Alicia FosterThis was disclosed by the Crime Chief, Assistant Commissioner Seelall Persaud, in an invited comment yesterday, in the wake of several features carried by this newspaper on unsolved murder cases.For several years, this newspaper has been highlighting a number of cold cases; and, to date, none of them have been resuscitated to any significant effect. According to the Crime Chief, a proposal to establish the unit has been stymied by the lack of adequate manpower.This is in addition to the growing demands on the staff of the Criminal Investigations Department.Despite the advancement of technology which can greatly assist in solving cold cases, the Guyana Police Force currently relies on paperwork which is stored in the best available way.According to the Crime Chief, should such a unit become a reality,Wholesale Authentic Jerseys, the Police Force will first have to look at the amount of unsolved cases,Cheap Jerseys Authentic, and then build a data base to facilitate proceeding with them. He pointed out that they will have to revisit evidence and re-interview available witnesses.He pointed to the numerous murders allegedly committed by the Rondell Rawlins gang.“With the passage of time, things change. There may be some things that witnesses would not have said then but would be willing to say now,” he explained.But while some may question the proper storage of evidence over a prolonged period, the Crime Chief pointed out that the police force has managed to store these to the best of its ability.“Once exhibits are seized, they are lodged and stored in the best way possible. Spent shells and other murder weapons are some of these. In the case of perishable evidence, we photograph them and then dispose,” Persaud stated.But one problem facing the proposed initiative is the unavailability of witnesses, either through migration or death.Assistant Commissioner Persaud told this newspaper that, while it may seem that nothing is being done with regards to a number of unsolved cases, the CID does not close these matters.He revealed that the police force has been able to solve a number of cold cases within recent times, and he pointed to the recent GuySuCo payroll heist in which one of the suspects was slapped with another robbery under arms charge for an offence committed in 2005.In another matter, the police were able to charge a person for a murder in the Botanical Gardens committed 15 years prior. In that matter, two men were convicted for the murder of a young couple, but were eventually freed on appeal. A ‘cold case’ team would face a steep challenge to deal with the huge stack of unsolved murders, which go back to the 1970s.These earlier cases include the murder in 1978 of 14-year-old schoolgirl Ann Stewart,Jerseys Cheap Wholesale, whose body was found in an alleyway in Tucville; the murder on September 17, 1979,of belly dancer Dolly Baksh, 19, and 23-year-old Tejpaul Singh, who were battered to death near the Kitty seawall; the murder of security guard Monica Reece, who was slain and dumped from a pickup in Main Street on Good Friday Night in 1993; the execution-style killing in the nineties of cambio dealer Herman Sanichar, who was gunned down at his Herstelling,Supply NFL Jerseys, East Bank Demerara home; the murder in January 1999 of Chronicle technician Veeran Veerapen, found dead at Madewini after being beaten and poisoned; and the murder of former Bishop’s High School teacher Dorothy King, beaten and strangled, on January 27, 1999,China NFL Jerseys, in her Quamina Street home.In more recent times, there are the still unsolved murders of journalist and political activist Ronald Waddell, slain outside his home; Pastor Ian David, gunned down in 2007 in his Hadfield Street church; Marcyn King, gunned down in March 2008; the murder of Alpha Guest House owner Roselaine Pearl Hall, whose skeletal remains were found near Yarrowkabra on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway last April,Cheap Jerseys From China, and the murder in October, 2008 of Environmental Protection Agency official Alicia Foster, who was gunned down outside her Kitty home. |
