2008 Bartica massacre…Survivor tells tale of playing dead after dragged from hiding place

Jan 13, 2017 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

---

Another policeman testified yesterday about what transpired on the night of the 2008 Bartica Massacre.
This time, Constable Chester Benjamin, told the court that he hid in the police station while his fellow colleagues were being slaughtered by gunmen the night a gang attacked the Bartica Police Station.
The witness was called to the stand to testify in the trial of Dennis Williams, called “Anaconda”; Mark Royden Williams, called “Smallie”; and Roger Anthony Simon, called ‘Goat Man’. These men are indicted for 12 counts of murder.
On the night of February 17, 2008, the men were allegedly among a gang which attacked Bartica, slaughtering a dozen people, including three police officers, during an hour-long attack.
It was reported that the armed men attacked the police station before killing three policemen and freeing prisoners. Among the dead was Lance Corporal Zaheer Zakir, Constable Shane Fredericks and Constable Ron Osborne; Edwin Gilkes, Abdool Yassin Jr, Deonarine Singh, Errol Thomas, Ronald Gomes, Baldeo Singh, Ashraf Khan, Irving Ferreira and Dexter Adrian.
The three accused are before Justice Roxanne George and a mixed 12- member jury.
After being called to the stand by State Prosecutors, Diana Kaulesar and Stacy Goodings, the witness gave the court a sordid account of how he hid in the kitchen cupboard of the Police Barracks to save his life when the station came under siege.
The witness told the court that he was shot five times about his body but survived. He recounted that he had gone upstairs to the kitchen area for dinner when he heard gunshots downstairs. The witness said that he peered through a window and saw some strange men with guns standing in the compound and on the stairs of the Station building.
But before he could hide, Benjamin said that he was hit by gunshots that rang out throughout the Station. After the men attacked the lower flat of the Station, he said they proceeded into the area where he was hiding.
There, he said the gunmen conducted a search and pulled his already injured body from a cupboard. Benjamin said that although he was in pain, he stayed still to save his life. The man said that he played dead as one of his attackers placed his feet on his chest, possibly checking to see if he was still alive.
As the gunmen left, the Police officer said he moved to hide under the bed of Officer Sutton. The gunmen went on to search other sections of the station. At one point, the witness said that he had contemplated jumping from a window above the Station but decided against it out of fear that he would be seen by the gang members.
He only came out from under the bed after he was sure that the men had left the station. He said he heard the Station Land Rover start up as the group of attackers left the Station compound.
According to the witness, the men used the Land Rover to go in the direction of the Bartica Stelling, where he heard about four to five more shots ring out.
Afterwards, Benjamin said he came out of hiding and sought help. He said he was thereafter admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital.
He later gave statements to the police about the incident.
The witness faced a series of questions from Defence Counsel Peter Hugh on the identification of the number three accused, Roger Simon. Benjamin had claimed to have pointed out Simon from among a group of men he saw at the lock ups at Mackenzie Linden, some time after the Bartica Killings.
The witness said that he was certain that he had seen Simon among the group of men standing outside the station at Bartica on the night of the attack.
The suspect, he said was a ‘Rastaman’ with beard he was clad in a floppy hat and a matching outfit. He pointed to Simon who was seated in the prisoner’s docks a short distance away, yesterday.
He said he is sure that Simon is the same ’Rastaman.’ The witness testified that he had pointed out Simon on an identification parade.
Attorney Hugh therefore questioned the witness about the description of the man whom he said he identified and whether he had attacked the Station.
The Attorney pointed to the witness that he had not given such a precise account of the description of the suspect in his statement to the police.
Asked why he did not give such details in the statement, Benjamin said he was in pain. The policeman said that he also didn’t give the details because he was not asked specifically to describe the alleged assailant.
Benjamin’s testimony followed Chester Benjamin’s account. Benjamin was a boat operator at the time. He recalled finding the bodies of his fellow crew member in the wake of the massacre.
On Wednesday, State witness Dwayne Williams told the court that he became a member of the gang that was led by notorious criminal Rondell “Fine-Man” Rawlins when he was yet a child.
Williams called ‘Small Fren’ said that he became acquainted with the gang while growing up in Buxton. He recalled that the gang consisted of ‘Fine man’, ‘Mud Up’, “Smallie” and others.
The witness, now 24 years old, told the court that he was a child going to school, and that from time to time, members of the “Fine-Man” gang would send him to the shop to buy groceries for them.
He said, too, that he was at Bartica with the men when they shot and killed several persons.
On Tuesday, the witness identified Dennis Williams, called “Anaconda”, and Mark Royden Williams, called “Smallie”, as men he knew. He said that they were part of the gang that was present at Bartica for the Massacre.
Under cross-examination by Defence Counsel, Peter Hugh, the witness told the court that Roger Simon was not among the group that was at Bartica on the night that it was attacked.
“No, he was not there Sir,” Dwayne Williams said in response to questions by the Defence attorney.
He agreed, too, to the suggestion that the first time he ever saw Simon was at the Preliminary Inquiry (PI) at the Magistrate’s Court.

---

---