Police fingerprint expert says ASP Murray wrote ‘suicide note’

Jul 28, 2010 News

-dead cop’s family sticks to murder theory

Police yesterday said that the Force’s handwriting expert has confirmed that the handwriting on a note found in Assistant Superintendent Ivelaw Murray’s bedroom on the day of his death was his.
But Murray’s parents remain adamant that he did not write the note and that he and Constable Ivelaw Shepherd were both murdered.
A release said that the note which was written on a note-pad stated “Sorry Mom. I love you and will always will”.
The release also confirmed that results of a test conducted by the Police Forensics Department revealed no trace of gunpowder residue on the hands of the late Assistant Superintendent.
“The Forensic Analyst Superintendent Stephen Greaves has explained that the presence of a significant amount of blood on each of the swabs used on the hands of Murray made it unlikely that traces of gunpowder residue could have been detected.
“Additionally, there is no guarantee that detectable quantities of gunpowder residue will be deposited on the hands each time a firearm is discharged.”
“In testing for gunpowder residue, the Police Forensic Laboratory utilizes a combination of chemical tests and the recently acquired laser induced breakdown spectroscopy.”
A forensic expert who had spoken to Kaieteur News 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.
Murray’s mother had told Kaieteur News previously that the note was written in script.
“If he had written it he would have written in his own writing, even if he had been forced to do it,” she said. We are convinced it’s murder.”
And her husband, retired Senior Superintendant Ivan Daniels, said that the family was “not letting up’, in trying to uncover the truth about Murray’s demise.
The official police version is that Murray shot Shepherd dead in the Springlands Police Station and then shot himself in his own home.
To support their murder theory, Murray’s relatives 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.
They also point to the absence of gunpowder residue on his hands, and the failure of investigators to retrieve any of the bullets that were fired in Murray’s home.
Medical experts who spoke to Kaieteur News gave differing opinions on whether Murray could have fired both shots.
Forensic pathologist Dr. 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 jaw 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 cause of death was shock and hemorrhage with laceration of the brain due to gunshot injuries. Death was due to “unnatural causes.”

Police refuse to return gun to holder

Despite orders, reportedly from their superiors, police at the Ruimveldt Station refused to return a weapon to a licenced firearm holder who is being investigated for threatening another man.
Police sources told this newspaper that there is sufficient evidence to withhold the man’s firearm and place him before the court.
Kaieteur News understands that the police were instructed to return the man’s firearm, minutes after he boasted that he was a relative of a senior government official.
According to reports, the man whose name was given as Mohamed Din of Albouystown and another man Francis Madray had a confrontation over a disputed property.
Madray had reported the altercation to the police who advised him to maintain the peace and settle the matter in the court.
But this newspaper understands that Din aggravated the situation by threatening Madray with his licenced firearm.
This too was reported to the police and a party comprising Corporal Harris went to Din’s home with a view to carrying out their investigations.
There they were confronted by a vociferous Din, who appeared to be heavily under the influence of alcohol.
After allegedly threatening the police ranks, he was subsequently arrested and taken to the Ruimveldt Police Station. There he boasted that he was the brother of a senior official (name given) and indicated that nothing can happen to him.
According to a source, within minutes, Din was released on bail.
Then a senior police official contacted the station and instructed the ranks there to return the man’s firearm, since he too was ordered to do so by his superiors.
The source said that several statements were taken in the matter and there is no way they will return the man’s firearm until the matter is ventilated in the court.
The incident is reminiscent of the fiasco between former Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Slowe and former Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj a few years ago.
On that occasion Slowe was relieved of his post as Divisional Commander after he refused to return a firearm to man who was under police investigation, despite the instructions of the Minister.
Slowe had contended that he was not prepared to obey an unlawful order and had challenged his transfer in the court.
Police ranks have been up in arms over what they called political interference in the execution of their duties.
Just recently a rank on the East Coast of Demerara was paraded before a senior judicial official after she detained one of his relatives who had committed traffic breaches.