DPP to decide on whether to  charge Regan Rodrigues

Crum-Ewing’s murder

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack is today expected to deliver her advice on whether to charge a man accused of killing activist Courtney Crum-Ewing earlier this year.

Slain former soldier Courtney Crum-Ewing

Crum-Ewing was gunned down on March 10 while encouraging residents of Diamond New Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara to cast their vote in the May 11 General and Regional Elections. A source had told Guyana Times that the .32 pistol which was found in Regan Rodrigues’ possession on Monday last was tested and it was proved that the same gun was used to execute the ex-soldier. Rodrigues was on Wednesday last charged and refused bail for being in possession of the Taurus pistol and 14 matching rounds. He was remanded and will make his next court appearance for that matter on August 4.

Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum on Sunday morning told media operatives that investigators have hard evidence against the suspect which can potentially lead to prosecution. “This is not somebody we just went on the road and pick up off the street. He has been fingered previously in at least one execution and also he is a known character to the Police … so currently we are continuing our probe into the Courtney Crum-Ewing murder,” Blanhum stated.

From the inception, it was believed that Crum-Ewing’s execution was politically motivated and this was confirmed by Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud on Saturday when he was bombarded with questions from the media with respect to probe.“There are several lines of inquiry: the proximity of the incident to the election, the time of the incident to the election would have driven one line of inquiry that this thing may be related to the elections. The fact that it occurred near to the home of a political activist again developed that line of inquiry that not only this thing is related to election, but somebody wants to bring a focus to the individual that lives there,” Persaud told media operatives on Saturday.

With Rodrigues in custody, the Police are looking for the “intellectual authors” in the execution-style killing, since they believe that the suspect was paid a hefty sum to get the job done to cause chaos during the elections period. They have a few leads that they will continue to pursue and the investigative team is confident that they will have a major breakthrough sooner or later.

Crum-Ewing, a father of three, came to the public’s attention after he held a one-man demonstration for 80 days in front of the office of Legal Affairs Minister and Attorney General Anil Nandlall, following revelations of a taped conversation between that official and a senior reporter of Kaieteur News. He was shot five times – three bullets to the head, one to the back of the neck and the fifth bullet entered under one of his arms. All the bullets were fired from behind and at close range except the one that hit under his arm and exited through his shoulder. Rodrigues has been implicated in a number of armed robberies within the past 10 years. He was held for illegal possession of arms and ammunition and armed robberies, one of which cost him 10 years in prison. He was also questioned for the murder of Police Corporal Romein Cleto, who was gunned down in the vicinity of Avenue of the Republic and Regent Street, Georgetown in April 2013. Also, he was questioned for the murder of Jason Wills, called “Teddy”, of Mahdia, Region Eight who was shot at least seven times in May 2013 as he sat watching television in the bottom flat of the two-storey house at Meadow Brook Gardens.