— Bartica Massacre trial hears

CLEBERT Reece, called “Chi-Chi”, the State’s star witness in the Bartica Massacre trial on Friday said he cried when Rondell “Fine Man” Rollins executed five civilians at the Bartica Stelling before going on a rampage in the mining town.

Reece informed the court how he felt when he continued his testimony in the High Court before Justice Roxane George SC and a 12-member jury, as he was led by Prosecutor Diana Kaulesar.

He told the court that he met “Fine Man,” also known as “Saddist”, for the first time when he went to Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara, to pick him up.

Reece added that he knew Dennis Williams, called “Anaconda,” for 14 years since they were friends, and both lived at “Globe Yard” and would go out and ‘sport’.

He said “Small Man” is Mark Royden Williams, whom he identified in court on Thursday along with Dennis Williams, as part of the group of men which consisted of nine that went to Bartica on a rampage on February 17, 2008.

According to him, he did not know Mark Royden Williams before the Bartica incident and met him too for the first time when he drove the light blue and white boat which was 25-feet long and about 8-10 feet wide and which was outfitted with a 25-horsepower Yamaha engine.

The witness said he was familiar with boats and engines for most of his life and he knew the boat-builder, whom he and others went to Parika to get a boat which he drove to transport “Fine Man” and his gang to and from Bartica.

Reece told the court that he used to leave his own boat with the man prior to the Bartica incident and the group he picked up consisted of “Sad Man”, “Chung Boy”, “Magic”, “Mud Up”, “Kussum called Small Frame”, Michael Caesar called “Capone”, Dennis Williams, “White Boy” and “Small Man.”

CUT OFF
His boat drive took 45 minutes from Ann’s Grove to the city near Eve Leary, when the engine cut off for the first time and he went with “White Boy” and Dennis Williams to buy gas on Hadfield Street, just behind the Brickdam Police Station.

The witness told the court that “White Boy” brought a bag from the trunk of his car which contained guns, bulletproof vests and camouflage clothing, among other things, and placed them in the boat at the Tiger Bay old wharf.

Soon after, he said “White Boy” began taking out the contents of the bag.

Reece also related that they spent a night near the soldiers’ base, at a place called “Makouria,” when the boat engine stopped for the second time while they were on their way to Bartica.

He recalled that while there, an Indian guy came to uplift ‘raw’ gasoline from them and left and it took him about 45 minutes to reach Bartica, where he moored the boat south of the stelling.

Reece stated that “Small Man” was dressed in a long camouflage pants and a matching long-sleeved top with a tope with three clips of rounds around his waist and was armed with an AK-47. He (Reece) was dressed in a blue three-quarter pants and a blue shirt but was not armed.

He said “Mud Up” was dressed in camouflage clothing as well, while “Kussum” had on ordinary clothes and they too were armed with AK-47s.

The witness noted that the stelling had lights and he knew it was the police vehicle when the group returned to the stelling and he was told to take things from that land rover and place it into the boat.

CRIED
He recalled that when the five men were placed to lie face down on the stelling, he was about five feet away on the boat’s bow when the men were killed and he said he was crying when it happened.

Reece told the court that Dennis Williams was about two feet from “Small Man” when he passed a handgun to “Sad Man,” who shot and killed the five men on the stelling.

He added that they were camping out for three months before he escaped from the group and during that time, some of them used to go home and visit their families.

Reece said he was friends with Dennis Williams and his cousin Michael Caesar before the Bartica incident and added that he was not forced to tell his story in the court, because when he was in prison, he was in one place all the time where he urinated and defecated in that one place.

He was asked when he left to go Bartica, if he had expected anyone to get injured and he responded in the affirmative.

On trial are Mark Royden Williams called “Smallie”, Dennis Williams called “Anaconda” and Roger Simon called “Goat Man,” each indicted on 12 counts for the murder of nine civilians and three policemen at Bartica on February 17, 2008.

However, two of the five accused, Michael Caesar and Clebert Reece, have since pleaded guilty to manslaughter separately and have been sentenced.

Mark Royden Williams is being represented by Roger Yearwood, Dennis Williams’ lawyer is Saphier Hussain and Roger Simon’s attorney is Peter Hugh.

During the February 17, 2008 rampage, nine civilians and three cops were gunned down by a group of heavily armed men, who had descended on Bartica at nightfall.

Those who lost their lives were Bartica residents Edwin Gilkes, Dexter Adrian and Irving Ferreira; policemen stationed at the Bartica Police Station, Lance Corporal Zaheer Zakir, Constables Shane Fredericks and Ron Osborne; Deonarine Singh of Wakenaam; Ronald Gomes of Kuru Kururu; Ashraf Khan of Middlesex, Essequibo Coast; Abdool Yasseen and Errol Thomas of Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo; and Baldeo Singh of Montrose, East Coast Demerara.

Rondell “Fine Man” Rawlins, according to the police, led the gang on the rampage in Bartica as well as the one that converged on Lusignan on January 26, 2008.

Rawlins was killed during a Joint Services operation on August 28, 2008. With his death and the arrest and prosecution of the five suspects, it appeared as though the police had closed their investigation.

The state is being represented by Diana Kaulesar and Stacy Goodings, while the defence attorneys are Roger Yearwood, Saphier Husain and Peter Hugh.