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No gunpowder residue found on ASP Murray’s hands

Jul 21, 2010 News

The Guyana Police Force’s forensic experts have found no trace of gunpowder on the hands of Assistant Superintendant Ivelaw Murray, who police officials allege shot a police constable with his .38 service revolver before pumping two bullets into his own head.
Kaieteur News has confirmed that a member of the Force’s Crime Scene Unit had swabbed Murray’s hands for traces of gunpowder, based on official reports that he had killed Constable Kevin Shepherd before committing suicide.
A source said that the swabs were taken within the 78-hour period, which would ensure that any gunpowder residue would have been detected.
According to the source, the ranks that found Murray’s remains failed to place his hands in bags to ensure that any gunpowder traces would not have been obliterated.
Nevertheless, the expert stated that there should have been substantial traces of gunpowder on Murray’s hands, given the fact that he allegedly discharged three gunshots on the fateful night.
“It (the residue) is supposed to be heavy, taking into account the number of shots he was supposed to have fired.”
Meanwhile, police ballistic experts have still not been able to match a bullet fragment taken from the dead
Constable Shepherd to Murray’s firearm.
In addition, no bullets were recovered from Murray’s home, where he allegedly shot himself.
The absence of gunpowder is likely to raise further speculation about the circumstances surrounding the deaths of both ASP Murray and Constable Shepherd.
The official police version is that Murray shot Shepherd dead in the Springlands Police Station and then shot himself in his own home.
But Murray’s relatives insist that all evidence indicates that he was murdered.
They point particularly to the fact that his body bore two gunshot wounds and say that a medical expert told them that either one would have killed him. Medical experts who spoke to Kaieteur News gave differing opinions on whether Murray could have fired both shots.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Vivekanand Brijmohan stated in his report that he observed a 2.5cm lacerated gunshot wound below Murray’s chin. The margins of the wound were ragged and blackened.
Dr. Brijmohan stated that the bullet passed directly upwards, fractured the upper and lower jaws, and splintered the nasal sinuses. The root of the nose-bridge and bones in the skull, were also fractured. The bullet exited between Murray’s eyebrows.
Dr. Brijmohan’s report stated that there was also a 0.6 circular gunshot wound with blackened borders to the right scalp, 3.2 cm directly above the upper border of Murray’s right ear.
The bullet passed directly across the brain substance with laceration and bleeding and exited by a 3.0cm x 2.0 cm opening to the left parietal bone 3.5 cm directly above the upper surface of the left ear. The bone to the left temple showed three linear fractures.
Dr. Brijmohan concluded his report by stating that the cause of death was shock and hemorrhage with laceration of the brain due to gunshot injuries. Death was due to “unnatural causes.”
Kaieteur News understands that, acting on information about the case, Dr. Brijmohan had examined the bodies of both victims for evidence of a homosexual relationship. He reportedly found no such evidence.

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