THE Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Madam Shalimar Ali-Hack, has re-opened the investigation into the murder of political activist, Courtney Crum-Ewing, who was gunned down on March 10, 2015, in Diamond, East Bank Demerara.
A statement from the DPP’s office on Friday noted that the sole purpose of this is to take further evidence from police witnesses and to rule on the voluntariness of all oral statements of the accused. According to the statement, the matter will be prosecuted by Special Prosecutor Attorney-at-Law Mr. Nigel Hughes.
Regan Rodrigues was initially charged with Crum-Ewing’s murder, however on September 14, 2016, Magistrate Judy Latchman dismissed the charges when the Preliminary Inquiry was first conducted, following a no-case submission which was filed by his lawyer, Adrian Thompson.
In her ruling, Magistrate Latchman had said that while she was satisfied that the gun, which was used to shoot Crum-Ewing was found at the home of the accused, the evidence offered by the prosecution did not implicate Rodrigues in the actual murder.
As such, the Magistrate dismissed the murder charge against Rodrigues and informed him that he was a free man. Rodrigues, 37, is however still in prison as he is currently serving a three-year sentence at the Camp Street prison for escaping lawful custody.
Rodrigues was charged with Crum-Ewing’s murder on August 7, 2015. He had told the court that “money was passed” and the real man that assassinated the political activist had walked away scot-free. Crum-Ewing was assassinated while urging residents of Diamond to vote for the Opposition Coalition prior to the May 11, 2015 general and regional elections. He was shot five times, including three times to the head at point blank range.
Relatives and supporters of the ‘Justice for Courtney Crum-Ewing’ campaign commemorated his second death anniversary last week with a protest outside the office of the Attorney General, crying for justice and closure of the case.
“…is two years since the murder and obviously we haven’t had closure or his case has not been solved…his killers are all out there,” father of the murdered man Clifford Crum-Ewing told the Guyana Chronicle last week.
Ten protestors stood holding banners which carried the message, “Justice for Courtney Crum-Ewing,” and included activists, family and members of the Alliance For Change (AFC) political party.
Clifford Crum-Ewing said the family believes that the police should look harder into further investigating the case and begin to call even some politicians for questioning. They also suggest that Rodrigues be further questioned so that police can understand who had possession of the gun the night of March 10, when Crum-Ewing was shot dead.