Slaughtered miners... Jamaicans to determine the identity of the bones, skulls

Slaughtered miners… Jamaicans to determine the identity of the bones, skulls

Jul 11, 2008 News

– Trinidad forensic experts visit Lindo Creek

A team of Jamaican pathologists and forensic scientists are expected in Guyana shortly to conduct examinations on the skeletal remains found at Lindo Creek in the wake of the slaying of eight miners.
The visit would be followed by that of a team of Trinidad forensic experts who have since visited Lindo Creek twice, the last time being 11:00 hours yesterday.
This is according to Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, during his weekly post Cabinet press briefing yesterday at Office of the President.
Dr Luncheon added that the size and specifics of the Jamaican team was still being finalised and is being offered under the Mutual Assistance by CARICOM (Caribbean Community) states agreement.
Once they get here the Jamaicans would work to ascertain the identity of the various bones and skulls.
As it relates to the team from the twin-island Republic (Trinidad and Tobago), Dr Luncheon noted that there was an approach that was consolidated with Joint Services and the Trinidadian team to travel to Lindo Creek. “This engagement fell apart.”
He said that there was a problem with logistics. The Trinidadians came with their own helicopters and together with their Guyanese counterparts could not travel with the limited transportation accommodation.
He explained that the different accounts given by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the police may have been the result of the different agencies being given different accounts of what was supposed to have transpired. It was a communication problem, Dr Luncheon said.
Dr Luncheon, who is also the Secretary to the Defence Board, said that the team was scheduled to travel to the site yesterday morning.
Polygraph Testing
When questioned as to whether the ranks involved in the exercise in the surrounding (Lindo Creek) terrain would be subjected to polygraphs tests, Dr Luncheon said that despite the approval of the method by Heads of Government of CARICOM for investigative purposes, “at this time it was unnecessary.”
He noted that polygraph testing has not been identified as a broad based method but it has its advantages and has even been used in pre-employment screening, among others.
To date, the police have already announced that they have a suspect in connection with the murders of the eight men whose cremated remains were discovered two weeks ago at a mining camp at Lindo Creek, Berbice River (78 miles south of Kwakwani along the Unamco trail).
“The eyewitness has said that the men were attacked by ‘Fine Man’ and his gang. “They went there, attacked the men….tied them up, cooked and then the following night they (the miners) were shot and killed.”
This was related to the media operatives recently by Commissioner of Police (ag) Henry Greene
The incident reportedly occurred even as the Joint Services were pursuing Rawlins and his gang after raiding their Christmas Falls (10 miles from Lindo Creek) hideout a few days earlier.
According to the Top Cop, the killer gang arrived at Lindo Creek, which is on the same side of the Berbice River from the Christmas Falls base.
Ballistics tests on the spent shells recovered from the scene revealed that one of those shells matches one of the weapons that were recovered by the security forces from slain gunmen Cecil Ramcharran, called ‘Uncle Willie,’ and Robin Chung, called ‘Chung Boy’.
The others match those recovered from crime scenes at Bartica and Triumph, East Coast Demerara.
Owner of the mining camp where the miners were killed, Leonard Arokium, has maintained that the killing of his employees was not the work of the notorious fugitive.
Arokium had expressed strong belief that his employees were killed by members of the security forces operating in the area.
He had explained that it would have been foolish for ‘Fine Man’ and his gang, who were fleeing from the security forces, to risk going to his camp and take the time to burn the bodies of his employees, including that of his son Dax, after killing them.