The Tribune

By TANEKA THOMPSON

Tribune News Editor

tmthompson@tribunemedia.net

THE government has launched an independent investigation into the deaths of two Bahamian men who died under mysterious circumstances in Italy.

This is according to Attorney General Carl Bethel, who told ZNS News yesterday the Minnis administration has also retained Italian attorneys as a part of this process.

“We are intent that the government will leave no stone unturned in finding out the truth of what happened to our young men,” Mr Bethel said.

He continued: “(We) communicated with the Italian authorities, making a formal international request for assistance in obtaining the reports and the conclusions and the findings of the investigators into this tragic matter.

“Further, we are advised that in order for the Bahamas to obtain not just the reports, but also the background and documentation which would in a sense support or otherwise the findings in the report, we had to obtain Italian attorneys to represent us in Italy.”

The bodies of Alrae Ramsey, 29, and Blair John, 28, were found in the Po River in Turin, Italy, on June 4 and 5 respectively. According to some Italian news outlets, results of the autopsies conducted in Italy state drowning as the cause of death. Italian police ruled that the deaths were accidental stating it appeared the men fell into the river; however, family members have rejected these theories. They have urged Bahamian officials not to sweep the matter under the carpet.

John’s father, Randolph John, previously told this newspaper he does not accept the autopsy results. He added that if the men indeed drowned, it meant that they were “incapacitated” before being tossed in the river.

Yesterday, Mr Bethel said the government has acceded to the requests of the bereaved relatives to look into the matter.

“Suffice it to say that everything that the family members would have requested to be done, was done at their request,” the senator said. “The Bahamian people have a right to be fully satisfied about the findings of the investigation that is being conducted in Italy in respect of our young men. They have a right to be satisfied that the government has done everything in its power to reach the truth. I want to assure the Bahamian people that is our intent.”

He did not provide a timeline for the investigation or an expected outcome.

However, he did say: “We are going to be advised by competent counsel in Italy and following their advice as to how to how to achieve what we wish to achieve, we will take those steps.”

Ramsey, a foreign service officer on study leave in Vienna, was reportedly in Turin on a break. He and his friend, John, were staying at a bed and breakfast at Via la Loggia 2 in Turin.

John, a Saint Mary’s University graduate student, was there to attend a psychology conference. The men both attended the same high school, Saint Augustine’s College in New Providence.