In an interview with the Bahama Journal, Mrs. Trotman said she intends to make a request to officials today, asking them to hand over her son’s body.
The bodies of condemned men are the property of the state, but a national security official has informed that if the family makes a formal request, authorities may be willing to turn over Brown’s body.
It was recently revealed that police officials have completed their investigations and are prepared to release Brown’s body
“It’s nice to know that I could get Neil’s body because I thought he was already under the ground,” Mrs. Trotman said.
“But on Monday I understood that he had not been buried yet. That’s when I started feeling down again, and when I went (to the Coroner’s Inquest) on Friday a gentleman told me I could have the body. I feel glad to know that I can definitely get the body, bury him myself and just get it over with – just to know that I can see him again.”
Mrs. Trotman, who adopted Brown when he was five following the death of his parents, said she had not seen him since December.
In an earlier interview, she revealed that during her last visit to the prison Brown urged her not to return.
She said he explained that based on what he was going through, he was not going to remain at the prison much longer. Mrs. Trotman said her son complained about not being out of his cell for three months.
Brown, a father of one, was convicted in 2002 of the 2000 murder of beloved Anglican Archdeacon William Thompson.
In addition to a death sentence, he received two 20-year sentences for burglary and attempted armed robbery.
In 2004, the Court of Appeal overturned the conviction and death sentence after determining that hearsay evidence had been admitted during his trial.
Following a retrial last year, Brown was found guilty again.
He was expected to return to court this past January for an appeal.
But that same month, he, along with three other inmates – one of them also a murder convict – mounted what turned out to be a daring and deadly escape from the prison.
In the end, Brown was killed as was 38-year-old Prison Corporal Dion Bowles.
Corporal Bowles was buried shortly after.
Mrs. Trotman said she is now in the process of “getting things straight” for her son’s burial.
“I’ve already been all over the place. (When I left the Coroner’s Court on Friday) I went by the insurance office and after that I went to the funeral home and everything worked out for me,” she said.
“But I really can’t say he will be buried within the next week until I actually get his body.”
Over the past week, the Coroner’s Court has heard testimony from more than 20 witnesses as officials seek to determine how Corporal Bowles and Neil Brown were killed and how the four inmates were able to escape.
In the end, close to 100 witnesses are expected to take the stand, a few of whom have already been recalled.
Testimony is expected to continue today at 10am.
By: Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
