Former President Donald Ramotar

Unsolved murders

Glenn Lall’s vigilante killing should be reopened – sources

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon on Monday indicated that there was a possibility that Government may reopen cold cases as well as launch investigations into the numerous unsolved murders that occurred over a particular period of time.

Harmon said he could not recall the exact period into which Government intended to initiate the probe, but he explained that Commissions of Inquiry (CoIs) would be established to deal with “all” uncertain matters.

During a brief telephone interview with the Guyana Times, Harmon said families needed closure and, therefore, the CoIs would seek to provide answers to “all” the questions left unanswered.

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon

Kaieteur News Publisher Glenn Lall, who was implicated in one of the high-profile murder cases in the 1990s, could find himself facing the courts in relation to the death of Kerry France. There is no statute of limitations on murder.

When contacted on Monday, former President Donald Ramotar said that he has no problems with any investigation into the spate of extrajudicial killings, but there must not be limitations.

“If the Government is serious about this probe, they must go as far back as the 1970s and they must probe all of the high-profile and ordinary extrajudicial killings”, he insisted.

He also wanted the Government to look at the evidence that emanated from the Rodney Commission of Inquiry as there were still so many questions that could be answered.

Asked about the cases related to the death of Monica Reece and the vigilante killing involving Lall, Ramotar insisted that “all cases must be revisited” whether they were investigated or not.

The former President pointed out strongly that politics aside, Government was duty bound to be professional and fair as many have lost their lives as a result of these killings which in his opinion were a normal feature under the People’s National Congress (PNC) regime.

“I don’t think the PPP will have any problems with a probe, but the Party will look closely at the terms of reference, time span and things like that to understand how serious and genuine the Government is about the investigation,” he remarked.

The Stabroek News had reported that on January 20, 1994, in Mc Doom,  Lall, the ‘vigilante’, now the owner and publisher of the Kaieteur News, “shot and killed 30-year-old resident Kenny France”. Lall was never arrested nor were charges ever brought against him. The killing was condemned by the Guyana Human Rights Association.

Facts related to the case stated that Lall and three friends were driving on the East Bank Public Road when he “spotted” one Oclive Marshall in a yard.

According to reports, Lall felt that Marshall was one of the individuals who had attempted a burglary at his home. He stopped his car and demanded that Marshall accompany him to the police station – the nearest one was at Ruimveldt, five minutes away.

Fearing that Marshall would be beaten by Lall and his cohorts, his aunt Pamela France, demanded that she be allowed to accompany him to the station.

By this time, a number of villagers had gathered and the aunt demanded identification, which Lall could not provide.

At this point, Lall reportedly whipped out his .38 weapon and demanded Marshall enter the vehicle.  Lall spoke roughly to the aunt who remonstrated with him and her husband Kenny France protested that he could not speak to his wife like that.

At this point, Lall shot France in the chest and the man fell to the ground dead. Lall and his friends then drove off and he later said that the shooting was “an accident”.

This account was disputed by Pamela Marshall and the dozens of villagers on the scene.

The Stabroek News reported that the Police took a statement from Lall, but this was never released to the press.

Similarly, the Police never released their findings from their investigation into how far Lall was from France when the fatal shot was fired.

Haunted

President Granger, speaking during the televised “Public Interest Programme” on Friday, confirmed that the new A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government was in the process of launching an in-depth investigation into the killings which have haunted the minds of thousands of Guyanese.

Granger said that currently moves are afoot to launch an investigation into the “extrajudicial killings” which plagued the country during the period 2000 to 2008.

 According to President Granger, Government is in the process of ensuring there is a proper Coroner Department to efficiently and effectively investigate the respective cases.

“We are looking at that right now to ensure that once we get going, every death that is reported we get to investigate,” he stated, noting the Government was taking its “time” on the matter to ensure everything ran smoothly.

 When President Granger was asked what cases in particular he would be opening investigations into, his response was “all of them”. He later explained that Government did not intend to make as its priority the high-profile murders or the “spectacular deaths”.

“We want normal people,” he stated.

Concerns

But the Government’s call for an investigation into the unsolved killings during that particular period of time raised some concerns for the PPP/C Opposition which questioned why the Government did not launch comprehensive investigations into all of the deaths dating as far back as the killing of Walter Rodney in 1980.

 The PPP/C Opposition is maintaining that any such inquiries should be broadened and lengthened to encompass such killings that go back to the 1970s.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had accused the APNU/AFC coalition of being selective in its calls for investigations and suggested instead that the probe be done into all the murders and all the missing weaponry.

“We should have an inquiry into everything, maybe the mother of all inquiries,” he stated during a previous media conference at the Party’s Headquarters at Freedom House.

Jagdeo had highlighted some of the cases in particular that should be investigated.

He pointed out that there were still unanswered questions regarding the 155 missing Guyana Defence Force (GDF) weapons.

Last August, Lieutenant Colonel Sydney James, who spent three days at the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on the witness stand, testified and submitted documentation that the GDF loaned high-powered military weapons to the PNC’s Ministry of National Development.

The records that Lieutenant Colonel James tendered as evidence to the Commission showed the GDF had loaned 200-odd weapons to the Ministry, as well as paramilitary organisations and other agencies. Of those 200-odd weapons, 155 are still missing.

The work of the Rodney CoI was curtailed by APNU/AFC after it came to office.

“Let’s start with how the guns were given to the PNC and how they ended up in the hands of criminals in 2004. [President Brigadier (ret’d) David] Granger still doesn’t want to help us get back those guns,” Jagdeo had posited.

 He added that the smuggling of guns from Suriname to Buxton during the 2002-2008 crime wave, the murders of Police Officers, the massacres in Lusignan and Bartica in January and February 2008 and “every single” charge of extrajudicial killings by the ‘phantom’ squads, among other issues, are areas that needed to be looked into.

 Meanwhile, the probe’s time frame has been expanded, as an investigation into Monica Reece’s death could also be reopened.

 Reece, who was  a 19-year-old security guard, became known to all Guyanese after her body was dumped from a speeding pickup vehicle in the vicinity of the Geddes Grant building (now Courts) on Main Street, Georgetown on April 9, 1993.

More than a decade after the incident, the crime remains unsolved. (devinas@guyanatimesgy.com)