Five of the suspects connected to the six murders that have taken place this year are either ex-convicts, out on bail or have been linked to a crime, underscoring the urgency of the work being conducted by the Prison Reform Commission.
A police source said today that the suspect in the shooting death of 11-year-old Eddison Curtis last week, was recently released from Her Majesty’s Prison. He was expected to be charged today or tomorrow for the crime that stunned the Fox Hill community where the boy lived.
One of the victims had been previously charged with a double murder, the Bahama Journal has learnt.
The police source said that the only murder case that did not involve past offenders was the shooting of Elmer Martin Knowles in the Montell Heights area last week.
Although one of the perpetrators had no previous record, he was reportedly well-known to the police as being closely associated with crime.
The police source said investigators are also making speedy progress in solving these crimes. Police Commissioner Paul Farquharson said his officers solved 80 percent of the 54 murders that took place last year.
Police said they have solved all but one of the murders that took place so far in 2003.
All of the killings were shooting deaths, which has led to increased police efforts to crack down on the numbers of illegal guns on the streets. Addressing the funeral service of Anthony Morris Rolle, one of the recent murder victims, the Member of Parliament for Bain and Grants Town Bradley Roberts said Saturday that, “The availability of a weapon has mesmerized our people, where the weapon is controlling us and the better sense of judgment and commands of God take second place.”
Assistant Commissioner of Police Reginald Ferguson today expressed concern about the easy access to firearms and also the problems that some Bahamians seem to be having with conflict resolution.
“I call it the disregard for the sanctity of life,” Mr. Ferguson said. “People don’t think anything of putting a bullet into somebody and knowing that it could result in the death of the person.”
He also said that criminals have the mistaken belief that they can get away with their crimes.
Superintendent Marvin Dames of the Central Detective Unit (CDU) added,
“We are determined and we feel very confident with our strategies and with the support of the Bahamian public, the decent citizens of this nation.”
Mr. Dames also said that, “the police were going to do all within the limits of the law to ensure that the nation’s streets are safe and that these young men in particular who are out to destroy this nation are taken off the streets and placed where they belong…behind bars.”
Police also say that they have in custody someone for the killing of Dwight Miller who was gunned down on Friday on Cambridge Road, in Bain Town.
By Julian Reid, The Bahama Journal
