Three inmates of Her Majestyﾴs Fox Hill Prison say they are in fear for their lives.
Yesterday they delivered testimony in a Coronerﾴs Inquest that implicated guards in the death of a prisoner who was found dead in his Maximum Security cell, four years ago.
The medical officer who pronounced 35-year-old Sidney McKenzie dead reported no physical injuries to the body.
According to the Rand Lab, the cause of death was acute pulmonary and cerebral edema.
However, Inmates George Burrows, Eric Collie and Ernest Thompson told a Coronerﾴs Inquest Monday, that the last time they saw McKenzie alive he was being brought back upstairs to his block by two prison guards.
When McKenzie returned with officers Gregory Archer and another officer identified as ﾓRolle,ﾒ he seemed quiet and docile, the inmates testified yesterday.
This is the second inquest into McKenzieﾴs death. The first stalled more than half way through, when Magistrate Winston Saunders called an adjournment to await the toxicology report.
The inquest resumed anew, under Magistrate William Campbell this February.
Burrows – who was the first to take the stand yesterday – previously told the court that he witnessed McKenzie allegedly being beaten with a mop stick by Officers Archer and Rolle.
His cell was adjacent to the deceased.
After being sworn in, Burrows told the seven-woman jury Monday morning, that he did not want to become involved in the inquest.
When asked by Magistrate Campbell if he could identify the officers he previously mentioned in his testimony, the inmate said he could not, although he has spent the last nine years incarcerated at Her Majestyﾴs Prison.
The magistrate then asked a police officer to bring in Mr. Archer. However, Burrows said he was not sure if he had ever seen the prison guard before.
Two other prison officers – Rolle and Russell – were brought in, but Burrows said neither of them were the officers he saw with the deceased.
Under intense questioning from the magistrate, Burrows later admitted that Mr. Archer was one of the officers that he last saw with the deceased.
The other officer allegedly involved in the beating – Felix Rolle – was not among those called to the Coronerﾴs Court Monday, Burrows testified.
Following Burrows positive identification, the magistrate told Mr. Archer that he was an ﾓinterested partyﾒ in the matter as he might be ﾓadversely affectedﾒ by the verdict.
The prison guard was informed that he would receive a copy of the courtﾴs transcript and would be allowed to question Burrows and rebut allegations at the next court sitting.
Although husky and tall, Burrows told the court that he was initially afraid to testify against the guards as a sergeant who accompanied the prisoners to court allegedly threatened another witness in the inquiry.
According to Inmate Thompson, prison Sergeant Mortimer allegedly threatened his life prior to his arrival at the Rodney Bain Building.
Thompson alleged that a Sergeant Mortimer threatened to knock him down with a car, shoot him, and punch him in his mouth.
Although he was in a cell by himself, the witness expressed his fear that his life was in danger because of his testimony. Thompson said he was fearful that someone would poison his food while he served out the last 15 days of his jail sentence.
He asked the magistrate if he could put a word in with the prison superintendent that he be removed to Minimum Security, where he would be allowed to view the prisoners taking up his meals.
The magistrate said he intends to check up on all the inmates who testified Monday.
According to Inmate Collie it was no ﾓlaughing matterﾒ for the inmates who have damning testimony in the inquest.
Said Collie: ﾓI jeopardizing myself, as a man in prison, taking the stand right now. Serving these last 15 days is like starting my 13-years all over again.ﾒ
Collie testified, that there was a noticeable difference in McKenzieﾴs walk, after he returned with the prison guards ﾖ Archer and Rolle.
The inmate, who resided in cell five at the time of McKenzieﾴs death, said he used a mirror to get a birdﾴs eye view of what went on in his block.
Collie told the court, that he believed McKenzie died shortly after being brought back up from downstairs by Archer and Rolle.
Earlier that day, McKenzie had bashed another inmate in his head after prison guards placed two men inside his cell.
According to Collie, McKenzie was ﾓhotﾒ because ﾓlifersﾒ would normally live alone and do not share cells with ﾓshort-timers.ﾒ
After the two men were removed from the cell, a short time later prison guards reportedly brought another pair inside.
McKenzie again became upset and the men were later removed from his cell, Collie testified.
Shortly after that, Archer and Rolle came for McKenzie, Collie told the court, he noted that prior to the guards arrival the deceased was kicking the jail bars and making noise, angry that he was being forced to share his space.
Collie testified that the deceased was on medication and took needles, that made him drowsy, locked his jaw and reportedly calmed him down.
Collie said, he assumed that the guards had given the deceased his medication due to McKenzieﾴs demeanor and walk when he returned upstairs after spending some 25 minutes with the guards.
Inmates said they left McKenzie alone when he did not respond to them after the guards returned him to his cell. Collie said he believes, McKenzie died shortly thereafter as he did not put out his waste pail or reach for his breakfast later that day, or for the next several days.
Collie claims McKenzie lay dead in his cell for two or three days, prior to the discovery of his body by an inmate, allowed inside his cell by a prison guard.
Tosheena Robinson-Blair, The Bahama Journal
