A third person connected to the Ryan Butler robbery trial has been involved in an attack.
A gunman using an AK-47 assault rifle fired a bullet into the house occupied by a police officer who is scheduled to testify in the attempted armed robbery trial of Ryan Butler.
Police report that the officer was at home when the shots were fired around 1:30am. No one was injured.
This is the third assault, or attempted assault, on a person connected to the trial.
Butler’s co-accused, Raymond Bastian, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting on Saturday in which his three-month old baby daughter was injured.
Bastian was apparently going to testify for the prosecution in the trial.
In another more bizarre incident, an attorney involved in the case, Mr Romauld Ferriera, was attacked by a man armed with a cutlass. Ferriera was assaulted in the parking lot of his law firm on East Street South. He received minor injuries.
Although police say they can’t be sure the events are related, or connected to the Butler trial, most people believe it would have to be an amazing coincidence if they were not.
Butler is accused of attempting to rob an armed vehicle outside the Royal Bank of Canada’s Prince Charles location back in December, 2007.
Witness tampering and intimidation is a huge problem in The Bahamas and despite much talk about a witness protection programme, there appears to be very little protection for witnesses.
