The Punch newspaper tabloid reports that an alleged hit-man has failed in his attempt to bump off a key witness who is scheduled to give testimony in the murder case of an ex-gang leader.
Leander Culmer was shot several times shortly before Christmas Day. A masked gunman blasted Culmer at 5:00am through his bedroom window at his house in Lewis Street Over-The-Hill.
Culmer is currently under 24-hour police guard at the Princess Margaret Hospital while he recovers from multiple gunshot injuries. Culmer had testified in October at the sensational murder trial of Angelo “Nasty” Brennen.
Brennen, a former street gang leader, is on Death Row at Fox Hill Prison after being sentenced to hang for the murder of his girlfriend Freda Pinder, 34. A week before the hit-man shooting, Culmer received a note that read: “Death to all snitches.” Culmer and Nasty were pals.
Culmer testified in court that Nasty asked him for a ride to Farrington Road. He said Nasty jumped out of the car when he saw Freda and her two daughters walking to the bus stop by Temple Baptist Church on Farrington Road.
He said he watched as Nasty shot Freda dead and blasted her daughter Caloonya, 16, in the leg.
He said Nasty missed the younger daughter as she fled for her life. Culmer said Nasty got back in the car and asked him “to get rid of the gun”. Instead, Culmer gave the gun to police. In May, Nasty and his brother Cordell were charged with conspiracy to prevent Culmer from testifying in the murder trial.
Culmer is the second person who has been shot for giving evidence against Nasty. Two gunmen shot Freda’s daughter Calvonya at her home in Fort Fincastle before Nasty’s trial began. The gunshots left her paralysed and in a wheelchair. But she still testified in Nasty’s murder trial. Nasty’s brother Cordell was charged with the attempted murder of Calvonya. And Nasty was charged with conspiracy to murder Calvonya.
When Prime Minister Perry Christie was hopitalized for a mini-stroke in May, he met Calvonya in hospital and told the media he would see to it that her medical needs were taken care of. He has since dodged questions about that comment and has reportedly done nothing for the girl.
Source: οΎ The Punch
Nassau, Bahamas
