Photos taken before station diary went missing in fatal Acadia police shooting 

A director at the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) yesterday testified that he was informed that the station diary containing the entry about the 2013 fatal shooting on Acadia Drive could not be found.

The witness, who was one of the investigators in the case, told the court that the superintendent at the Constant Spring Police Station had testified that he was instructed to check for the diary, but was later informed that it could not be located.

However, the witness told the court that before the diary went missing, a photograph of the relevant entry was taken, and the information it contained was extracted and handwritten.

He said he had received a statement from an INDECOM officer detailing his interaction with the diary and the photographing of the entry.

The superintendent had earlier testified during the trial that an extensive search was conducted at the station, but the diary could not be found.

The witness was testifying in the trial of Sergeant Simroy Mott, Corporal Donovan Fullerton, and Constables Andrew Smith, Sheldon Richards, Orandy Rose and Richard Lynch, who are charged in connection with the fatal shooting of Matthew Lee, Mark Allen and Ucliffe Dyer along Acadia Drive on January 12, 2013.

Months ago, a detective corporal who investigated the case testified that after visiting the scene and speaking with the policemen involved, he recorded what he was told in his notebook and later transferred the information to the station diary. However, he told the court that he is now unable to locate the notebook.

According to the detective corporal, all six accused policemen told him they had signalled a motor car carrying four men to stop, but one of the occupants alighted and opened fire, resulting in an exchange of gunfire. He said he was told that one of the men escaped along Evans Avenue and fled into a gully.

Additionally, he testified that Mott told him that neither he nor Corporal Fullerton was involved in the shooting.

Returning to the INDECOM witness’s testimony, when asked whether the police investigator, a detective constable whom he had seen at the crime scene, had told him what had occurred, he responded in the negative.

Further in his evidence, the witness said he conducted a caution interview with Fullerton in the presence of the policeman’s attorney. He said another colleague from the commission accompanied him.

The witness also testified that he visited the scene after receiving a call from an unidentified person and observed blood stains, spent shell casings, and blood and flesh inside the car in which the now-deceased men had been travelling.

He said he was also shown two firearms that were recovered from the scene.

The witness further disclosed that INDECOM received an anonymous letter following the incident and that investigations later revealed that Agriculture Minister Floyd Green and a female companion had written it.

Green had previously testified that he and the woman had penned the letter detailing what they had witnessed on the day of the shooting.

The trial will continue on Thursday in the Home Circuit Court with the witness resuming his testimony

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com