Nine charged for Vindra murder

FIVE months of rumors, suspicion, searching, public outcry, prayers and blame over the XtraFoods chief executive officer Vindra Naipaul-Coolman reached a turning point Monday with the appearance of nine men at the Port of Spain Magistrates' Court.

And one of the nine charged with the murder of kidnap victim Naipaul-Coolman turned spokesman for all the accused to request a speedy preliminary enquiry.

"We are all brethren here, right, Miss, and we either have children or have children to come," was what Shervon Peters used as the basis for his argument to Senior Magistrate Lianne Lee Kim for a quick enquiry so "this could go to the High Court".

The accused murderers- Peters, 20, Keida Garcia, brothers Marlon, 22, and Earl, 30, Trimmingham, Ronald Armstrong, Antonio Charles, Joey Lewis, Akeil Keron Glaster and Joel Fraser-are all from Upper La Puerta, Diego Martin.

In response to Peters's concern, Lee Kim told him that while she was adjourning the matter to Wednesday, it did not mean that the State will be ready to start.

She said the matter will start when attorneys for both sides indicate their readiness to do so.

Moments before, a crowd, mostly relatives and friends of the accused, media persons and curious members of the public gathered outside the Court on St Vincent Street, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the nine men who were brought in a prison truck around 9.30 a.m.

Lee Kim read the indictable charge when they stood before her which accuses them of murdering Naipaul-Coolman at Upper La Puerta, Diego Martin between December 18, 2006 and May 9, 2007.

They were not called upon to plead and Lee Kim told them that the offence was not bailable.

The charge for the capital offence was laid by Supt Nadhir Khan of the Homicide Bureau of Investigations (HBI).

Attorney Patrick Godson-Phillips is representing Fraser. The other eight accused were unrepresented but anxiously told Lee Kim they intend to get lawyers.

Godson-Phillips complained to Lee Kim that his client was arrested last Tuesday and has not had a change of clothing since then. He said many attempts were made by his relatives to make contact with Fraser through the HBI and they were refused.

It was only when an attorney intervened Sunday morning that the family was able to find the whereabouts of Fraser, Godson-Phillips said.

When he visited Fraser, Godson-Phillips said Fraser told him he was tied with tape and both hands were numb as a result. Godson-Phillips said Fraser wants medical treatment.

Godson-Phillips then applied for disclosure of several items - the station diary extract and other "diarized" extracts from the time he was arrested to the time he was charged, the different locations he was kept, the register of his feeding and meals, any interviews conducted during Fraser's detention, including any written and oral statements.

Lee Kim noted the application and said it will be extended to all the other accused men.

Naipaul-Coolman, 51, was abducted from her Lange Park, Chaguanas home on December 19, 2006. A $3 million ransom demand was made for her safe release. After a third search, this time in La Puerta, Diego Martin by police and the army, which started Wednesday, the nine persons were charged with the murder Sunday. Meanwhile a tenth suspect in the Naipaul-Coolman murder was arrested at the Piarco airport Monday trying to board a flight to St Vincent.

The man's capture was almost simultaneous with the first court appearance of the nine accused in the matter.

The man is said to be related to one of the nine accused.

During the police's weekly media briefing yesterday, ACP Homicide Maurice Piggott confirmed the arrest and said that the murder charges were not the end of the investigation.

Piggott said that kidnapping charges are may be laid in the matter but did not identify any suspects.

"The kidnapping investigation is far from over. The present situation does not mean that kidnapping charges will not be preferred during the course of this investigation," Piggott said. (Express)