Retired ASP: I was fair in my investigation

RETIRED ACP Raymond Craig on Wednesday insisted he was fair to the six police officers who are charged with the 2011 murders of three Moruga friends.

Craig returned to the witness stand on Tuesday at the trial of the six officers.

In it a volley of gunshots is heard, and the voice of a woman saying, “Stop shooting, I am coming out of the car.”

The CCTV footage was obtained by investigators from the owner of an auto parts business in Barrackpore. The shooting took place on July 22, 2011, at the corner of Guness Trace and Rochard Douglas Road, Barrackpore.

Friends Abigail Johnson, 20, of St Mary’s Village, Moruga, Alana Duncan, 27, of Duncan Village, San Fernando, and construction worker Kerron “Fingers” Eccles, 29, also of St Mary’s Village, were killed by the six.

It is the prosecution's case that the police officers were targeting Duncan's common-law husband, Shumba James, who was previously in the car they were in, but had switched cars after meeting two friends at a bar.

Charged with their murders are Sgt Khemraj Sahadeo and PCs Renaldo Reviero, Glenn Singh, Roger Nicholas, Safraz Juman, and Antonio Ramadin.

The video footage was previously played for jurors at the trial of the six police officers and was replayed during the cross-examination by defence attorney Senior Counsel Israel Khan.

Craig, who was assigned to the Professional Standards Bureau and who charged the six, was also asked about WPC Nicole Clement, another officer who was initially charged with the murders.

Craig said he could not say why Clement was no longer before the court.

"That is for the Director of Public Prosecutions to say. She was in custody for murder until the DPP's intervention."

He could not recall taking a statement from Clement, although his signature was on the one shown to him during his testimony.

He admitted Clement took him and other investigators to a second location in the area off the M2 Ring Road in Woodland. He said it was during an interview that Clement mentioned a second crime scene, and she accompanied him and other officers to a track off the M2 Ring Road.

Craig described it as “a very lonely area where people did not traverse.” He was questioned by Khan and defence attorney Ulric Skerritt on certain items allegedly found there.

In previous testimony, Craig said Clement also accompanied investigators to the Barrackpore crime scene and admitted to “reconstructing" the scene there to “be sure what took place that night,” to compare statements he received from two civilian witnesses and “to be fair to the accused.”

On Tuesday, he insisted he was fair to the accused during his investigations.

He also testified that the investigation into the shooting deaths of the three was first headed by then Snr Supt Errol Denoon, who was replaced by then-commissioner Dwayne Gibbs. Craig replaced Denoon, and he said he did not ask why he was chosen to replace his colleague.

The trial continues on Wednesday, when Inspector Michael Veronique is expected to continue his testimony.

Presiding over the trial at the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain is Justice Carla Brown-Antoine.

The six police officers are also represented by attorney Arissa Maharaj. The State is represented by special prosecutors Gilbert Peterson, SC, Elaine Greene and prosecutors Giselle Ferguson-Heller and Katiesha Ambrose-Persadsingh.