The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE murder and armed robbery trial of three men – Paul Belizaire, Devaughn Hall, and Kevin Dames - continued on Monday in the Supreme Court in Grand Bahama.

Geoffrey Farquharson, lawyer for one of the accused men, continued his cross-examination of the lead detective who defended his handling of the investigation into the September 2015 shooting deaths of a couple in Deadman’s Reef, West Grand Bahama.

Barry Johnson and his wife, Sheena, were discovered shot dead at their triplex apartment on September 12, 2015. They had been robbed of a set of keys and their GMC truck.

Det Sgt 772 Lorenzo Johnson was asked about a shotgun which was recovered by police and presented as evidence in court as one of the weapons used by a suspect in connection with the case.

Mr Farquharson suggested the shotgun in court was not the one seen in the surveillance video footage of the armed robbery and murder, and was recovered from another armed robbery investigation in Freeport in which Sgt Johnson had also been involved.

Sgt Johnson denied the assertion, saying he played a minor role in the other case and was acting on instructions of another officer who was the lead detective in the Freeport case.

“What steps did you take to assure that the shotgun brought in here was not the shotgun in that case?” Mr Farquharson asked.

Det Johnson said the shotgun had a serial number which he had written in his report, but Mr Farquharson put it to him that photographs taken by police of the weapon show the serial number had been removed.

The lawyer then pointed out the shotgun in Deadman’s Reef had a strap attached to it, whereas the one in court did not have a strap.

The witness insisted it was the shotgun in question and suggested the weapon was sent to the ballistics lab in New Providence.

“The shotgun shown in the video does not resemble or look like the one in court – the straps are black in the photographs taken by police, but it is a different colour in the video,” Mr Farquharson said, suggesting it looked white or light beige.

The video surveillance footage shown in court was black and white. Sgt Johnson answered that he could not tell what colour it was from looking at the video.

Mr Farquharson stated the question arising from the shotgun’s appearance, serial number and the missing strap is a contradiction to the weapon presented as evidence in the court.

He described it as the “height of slackness”.

He then questioned the detective about his investigations into the whereabouts of co-defendant Virgil Hall on the night of the murders.

He and Allan Alcime were among five men charged in the case, but both accepted a plea deal to testify as witnesses for the Crown. Murder charges were subsequently dismissed against the pair. The two were convicted of the armed robbery, and now are serving time in prison.

Mr Farquharson asked the witness if he had made an attempt to find out whether Hall had lived in Grand Bahama or Grand Cay at the time of the murders.

Det Johnson said Virgil Hall lived between his mother’s residence in Freeport, and Pinedale, Eight Mile Rock. But he stated Hall told him he lived in Eight Mile Rock.

“You never did any independent checks of your own instead of taking Virgil Hall’s word about whether he was in Grand Cay or Grand Bahama on September 12, 2015? Mr Farquharson asked, who noted that Virgil Hall was arrested in Grand Cay following the murders.

The witness said Virgil Hall must have gone to Grand Cay afterward because he was at the murder scene in Deadman’s Reef the night of murders.

The lawyer then asked: “Did you ask officer Edgecombe (who was stationed in Grand Cay) how long Virgil Hall was living in Grand Cay?”

Sgt Johnson said he would have asked the officer but could not recall what his answer was.

Virgil Hall and Alcime had testified they both were with Devaughn Hall and Paul Belizaire in Deadman’s Reef the night of the murders. They also testified Kevin Dames had dropped them off in the Deadman Reef area that night.

The trial continues.