The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

THE discovery of the body of a male, found shot dead in a car on the eastern end of Fire Trail Road early yesterday morning, has pushed the country’s murder count to 76 for the year, according to The Tribune’s records.

Police have not released the name of the man, but Tribune sources have identified the victim as 41-year-old Ule “Skank” McKenzie.

According to police reports, shortly after 2am, officers responded to reports of gunshots being fired in the Fire Trail Road area. When officers arrived on the scene, they discovered a man in the front seat of a Honda Accord, unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds to his body.

Officials pronounced the victim dead at the scene. Police are appealing to the public for assistance in solving the murder. Investigations are continuing.

This death came after police in Grand Bahama on Friday reclassified what they first thought was a traffic fatality as a homicide.

Police initially thought that a 31-year-old Williams Town man was killed as a result of a car crash in bushes on Creswell Road early last Thursday morning. However, on further investigation, they confirmed that it was not an accident that resulted in the man’s death.

Inspector Terecita Pinder of Grand Bahama police reported that stab wounds were discovered in the victim’s upper chest area. An 18-year-old man is helping police in that investigation.

These killings came more than a week after State Minister for National Security Keith Bell said the government is winning the war on crime, even as this year’s murder count outpaces the number recorded last year at this time.

Speaking in the Senate on June 24, Senator Bell suggested that homicides should not be the sole indicator of how bad the country’s crime situation is.

“We are winning because we have a comprehensive plan to address crime criminality,” he added. “We have implemented programmes to attack crime and its causes.”

Those comments were called “diabolic” and “asinine” by former FNM Deputy Leader Loretta Butler-Turner, who said it was shameful that the government was attempting to change the rules of engagement now that the PLP is in office.

While in opposition, the PLP criticised the Ingraham administration for the high volume of murders recorded between 2007-2012.

Shortly before the 2012 general election, the PLP erected billboards in popular areas, which read there had been more than 490 murders in the FNM’s last term.

“This is the same government who mounted billboards of the murder count all around this country at the height of the 2012 election season,” the Long Island MP said.

She accused the PLP of changing the measuring stick for how the effectiveness of a government’s crime policy is determined.

“They are trying to change the rules of engagement of what one measures success. This is hypocritical and misleading,” she said.

The Christie administration has come under fire in recent weeks for its handling of crime, primarily the high volume of murders that have occurred since the PLP took office in May 2012.

The Bahamas has recorded more than 350 murders under this administration. There were 119 murders in 2013, 123 in 2014 and 76 homicides this year up to press time.

There were 111 murders in 2012, the same year the PLP assumed office on May 8.

National Security Minister Bernard Nottage has stated on several occasions that his ministry is working to solve the country’s crime woes, but contends that murders remain an issue that the government hasn’t been able to curb.