Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Nov 07, 2021 News
— CCTV camera captures victim, suspect buying liquor on Regent St.
– stolen cellphone found in killer’s backyard
By Shervin Belgrave
Kaieteur News- The desire to purchase his own car might have been what drove Dr. Colin Roach’s ‘friend’ to rob and kill him in his Duke Street Kingston, Georgetown office on Tuesday night.
Reliable sources told Kaieteur News that although the prime suspect, identified as Hilton Oliver Junior Franklin, has insisted that robbing the doctor was never his plan and that he had only killed him in self defence, his accomplice, Lenrick Mosai Byass, has said that this is not the case.
Kaieteur News reported on Saturday that Byass related to investigators that the visit to Roach’s office that evening was a planned robbery.
He said that he was not present when the doctor was killed but that he and Franklin had taken off two gold rings from the dead man’s fingers and stole US$600 in cash. They reportedly divided the stolen items equally.
Detectives found the stolen rings concealed in Franklin’s crotch during his arrest at Corentyne, Berbice on Friday. Additionally, US$200 was found in his possession. Byass said that he had changed his cut of the US currency into Guyana dollars. When he was arrested police found $42,000 in cash in his possession.
Detectives were also able to corroborate part of the accomplice’s story and it has led them to believe that he might be telling the truth — that it was indeed a planned robbery.
Crime Chief, Wendell Blanhum said that his detectives were able to obtain CCTV footage of the slain doctor and the prime suspect buying liquor at a location on Regent Street, a few hours before the doctor’s body was found.
Sources told this newspaper that Byass had confessed to detectives that when they arrived at Roach’s office on Tuesday, he greeted them at the entrance and they left together in his SUV to purchase alcoholic beverages at a location on Regent Street.
Detectives reportedly continued to grill him and he revealed more details about the plan to rob the doctor. Byass told cops that one of the reasons behind robbing Roach was to ‘raise’ money for Franklin to buy a car. Franklin, he said, had intended to raise the cash by devising a plan to rob Roach. A black fielder wagon that Franklin had used to pick-up Byass on Tuesday to carry out the robbery was rented. Police had reportedly found the rented car at Franklin’s home when they had gone there to look for him. That car was impounded by police.
Meanwhile, as the investigation into Roach’s murder continues, police have reportedly gotten an extension to keep hi
s two employees in custody for a little while longer. The two employees reside in the upper flat of the three-storey building where Roach’s office is located. They were detained on the night his remains were found lying in a pool of blood.
One of them told detectives that he had found his boss’ body after entering his office to turn off the lights. He said that he had seen someone leaving and re-entering the building earlier that evening. Sometime around 22:18hrs, the doctor’s SUV drove off but he noticed that the light was left on.
The employee reportedly called Roach on his cellphone to notify him of the lights but he did not answer. He then informed the other employee who was reportedly out at the time that he was going to use their keys to enter and turn off the lights but when he got there, he found Roach’s lifeless body.
Franklin, the prime suspect, while admitting that he indeed killed Roach, also implicated that employee in the crime. He said that the employee had assisted him and Byass in cleaning up the crime scene in order to remove all the evidence.
However, in Byass’ confession, he said that the employee was not there and it was only he and Franklin who had sanitised the area. Franklin, he said, had unplugged a DVR and a nearby camera, which they took with them, along with the murder weapon (a metal object) and other items of evidential value during their escape. They reportedly discarded the items during their journey in the doctor’s vehicle to the West Bank of Demerara (WBD).
Two of Roach’s cellphones, which they had stolen, were reportedly discarded as well. But police have since managed to discover one of the cellphones, a gold iPhone X Max, in Franklin’s backyard. Kaieteur News learnt that detectives had gotten him to admit that he was the one that had picked up the doctor’s cellphones.
He said that he had thrown the phones in his backyard. Ranks conducted a search and found one of the cellphones and a red case. Franklin had also directed police to where he and Byass had discarded the murder weapon along with the DVR, camera and the other items of evidential value they had removed from the office. Ranks followed the directions he gave but did not find anything.
Where is the BETTER MANAGEMENT/RENEGOTIATION OF THE OIL CONTRACTS you promised Jagdeo?
Apr 19, 2024
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