The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

A MAN convicted of executing a married couple in Grand Bahama four years ago after he tried to rob the husband of $2m has launched an appeal.

Devaughn “Short Man” Hall is seeking to challenge his conviction and 60-year sentence for murdering Barry and Sheena Johnson at the couple’s Deadman’s Reef residence in September 2015.

Hall did not have an attorney when he appeared before the Court of Appeal recently, and so one was ordered to be appointed at the public’s expense.

Paul “PJ” Belizaire, who was sentenced to 25 years for robbing the Johnsons at gunpoint, is also seeking to challenge both his conviction and sentence.

Belizaire asserts he never should have been tried for the crimes in the first place, as the voluntary bill of indictment (VBI) served on him did not make out a true case against him, and that the court had no jurisdiction to hear the matter in the circumstances.

Allan Alcime, who accepted a plea deal and is serving 12 years for the armed robbery charge, had appeared before the Court of Appeal seeking to have the time he spent on remand, some 19 months, credited towards his sentence.

However, the appellate judges noted there was little they could do in that regard because he entered into a plea agreement. There was no indication in the agreement that his remand time would be factored into the sentence, and his attorney was present when he entered into the agreement.

Thus, his application was dismissed.

Both Hall and Belizaire return to the appellate court later this month. The Crown had indicated its preference to have their matters heard together.

The Johnsons were shot to death by four masked men armed with firearms in their triplex apartment at Deadman’s Reef on the evening of September 12, 2015. The couple was also robbed of their GMC truck and a set of keys valued at $8,000.

Surveillance footage showed how four masked men wearing hoodies rushed Mr Johnson as he arrived home and opened his front door around 9.40pm. The assailants hid in the bushes for an hour waiting for him to come home.

After they rushed the container port supervisor, they shoved him to the ground and crowded him while he lay in a foetal position on the front porch. The video also showed the assailants hitting Mr Johnson in the head, kicking him, and one of them pointing a gun in his face.

After a few minutes, one of the gunmen shot Mr Johnson in the back of the head. That gunman was then seen at the opened front door firing two shots inside the residence, killing Mrs Johnson before fleeing the scene.

Autopsies conducted indicated the husband died of a single gunshot to the head and his wife died of multiple injuries, including a gunshot to a head.

Hall, Belizaire, and Kevin Dames of Holmes Rock were all tried for the two murders and armed robbery. Hall was unanimously convicted of the double murder and armed robbery. Belizaire was found guilty of armed robbery, but the jury was hung on the two murder counts.

The jury also came back with hung verdicts on the two murder counts and armed robbery in relation to Dames, who had given the four armed men a ride to Deadman’s Reef the night of the murders.

Alcime, of Hanna Hill, Eight Mile Rock, and Virgil Hall of Freeport, accepted a plea deal with Office of the Attorney General and pleaded guilty to armed robbery. They also testified as witnesses for the Crown.

The Crown said Hall - who was the mastermind behind the plan - was motivated by greed as one of his former co-accused had testified that him and the others they were going to rob a “drug boy” of $2m and cocaine.