Bermuda woman, brother jailed for Trini's murder

A BERMUDA woman and her half-brother were handed life sentences after both were convicted of the murder, 14 years ago, of Trinidadian Marcus Gibbings who was the woman's ex-lover.

Katrina Burgess, 49, and her half brother Cleveland Rogers, 53, were both sentenced to life in prison for the 2006 murder of Gibbings. They each must serve 25 years behind bars before being eligible for parole.

The judge, Craig Attridge, said he would have considered an even harsher penalty if the law allowed him. Burgess was Gibbings' ex-girlfriend. She paid Rogers $5,000 to kill Gibbings after he broke up with her.

They were found guilty of murdering Marcus in March of this year and came up for sentencing on Friday. The murder happened in October 2006. Rogers had previously been convicted of theft, assault and sexual exploitation while Burgess had multiple convictions for fraud.

The verdict has brought closure for the Trinidad and Tobago community in Bermuda and it came out during the trial that former Trinidad journalist Gary Moreno, who is married and now resides in Bermuda, brought pressure to bear on the Bermuda Police Service after it was learned that an inexperienced team of officers had been assigned to investigate Gibbings' murder.

Moreno, who was a crime reporter and news anchor for TTT, left Trinidad for Bermuda and was head of news at ABC and CBS affiliate, Bermuda Broadcasting News. Ironically, Moreno is now Corporate Communications Manager for the Bermuda Police Service.

On his Facebook page, Moreno said of the conviction and life sentences for the two: "Time longer than twine. Ninety-nine day fuh tief, one day fuh police. De faddah doh sleep. One day, one day congotay. Finally, justice has been served. Now yuh could res in peace meh bruddah. Johnny black an coconut water tonight."

According to reports, on Thursday October 26, 2006 the body of 32-year-old Gibbings was found in his Derwent Lane, Devonshire apartment. An autopsy later revealed he was that Mr. Gibbings died as a result of multiple stab wounds including two to his chest, one of which struck his heart.

Gibbings was born in Trinidad in 1974 and was an IT specialist who lived in Bermuda for nine years before his murder. He was a father of two girls and step-father of one boy.