1 month after ‘Paper Shorts’ murder, Supt. Caesar claimed he was 99% sure of main suspect’s identity – relatives

Aug 28, 2022 News

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By Shervin Belgrave

Kaieteur News – Tears flowed on Saturday as relatives of slain businessman Ricardo Fagundes, popularly known as Paper Shorts, took a moment to reflect on the day he was tragically murdered by suspects who remain at large. As his relatives continue to mourn his tragic demise, they are now being forced to question why a senior detective in the Police Force’s, Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Mitchell Caesar, suddenly went silent after reportedly assuring them that he was 99% sure  who  the main suspect in the matter is.

Speaking with Kaieteur News on Saturday, one of the relatives recalled that Caesar had made this disclosure to them one month after he was gunned down just moments after stepping out of a popular bar on Main Street, Georgetown.

Paper Shorts was riddled with more than 20 bullets by two men who emerged from the back seat of a waiting white tinted Toyota Fielder motorcar.

Relatives recounted receiving a phone call from his close friend, Roger Khan, minutes after, informing them that, “Paper just get shoot.”

“We de only get one message from he (Fagundes) that day and it was “yo” and later that night, Roger call we and tell we, he get shoot,” said one relative.

They thought it was only a minor incident and he was still alive but when they arrived at the scene, all they could have done was “scream” as they caught a glimpse of his bullet riddled body lying motionless on the road.

Back then, detectives appeared eager to help the family get justice by hunting down the criminals. The relatives said that they’d trusted them to solve the case and recalled that, one month after Paper Shorts’ death, they had a face-to-face meeting with the lead detective in the matter, Superintendent Caesar.

“He said that they have a main suspect and is 99% sure is that person and he never bring it out and that was the last contact we had with him,” one of the relatives related.

According to the relatives, Caesar never revealed the identity of the individual and since then has not shared any further information. The relatives noted too that it seems that the eagerness to crack the case has disappeared.

They added too that the other detectives who had told them that one of the prime suspects is an individual who would be seen driving around the city in a car and shaking hands with politicians have gone quiet too.

Caesar came under the radar recently after a detective working under him, Sergeant Dion Bascom, made a Facebook Live accusing him and a colleague of taking a bribe to cover-up the murder investigation.

The superintendent has since denied Bascom’s accusation and has threatened to sue him for millions for defamation of character.

Bascom had claimed that Caesar had even identified a suspect and instructed him to make an arrest. The detective named the suspect as Mark Richmond, a security guard who is employed at Mohamed’s Enterprise, a Lombard Street, Georgetown establishment. An attempt to arrest the suspect had proved futile and, according to Bascom, Richmond had even threatened him. He had lodged a report against the suspect at the Brickdam Police Station but nothing was done to apprehend him for the alleged threat or the murder of Paper Shorts.

Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum had confirmed that he was aware of the alleged threats but had made it clear that ranks at CID do not investigate threats.

Apart from this, Bascom had also claimed that he and another colleague with the use of technology were able to implicate Richmond and prominent businessman, Azruddin Mohamed (of Mohamed’s Enterprise) in the murder of Paper Shorts.

He said that the technology was able to show that Richmond was at the scene when the murder took place and phone records also suggest that he was in contact with Mohamed.

Both Mohamed and Richmond have denied having any involvement in Paper Shorts’ killing and they too have threatened to sue Bascom for millions for defamation of character.

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) has also publicly denied that any of its ranks are involved in a cover-up and even called Bascom a liar. The GPF publicly stated too that there is no technology in the world that can triangulate a suspect’s location to a crime scene.

The Office of Professional Responsibility has since investigated the detective for breaching the Force’s – Code of Conduct. In recent developments, it was reported that the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has recommended criminal charges for Bascom.

Nevertheless, Bascom said that he stands by the accusations he made and is in possession of evidence to back up his claims. He had requested via his lawyer, Nigel Hughes, witness protection from President Mohamed Irfaan Ali as he believes that his life could be in danger. While there have been no reports of Ali responding to Bascom’s request, he has since invited the Regional Security System (RSS) to review the Paper Shorts’ murder investigation.

In light of all that has happened, Paper Shorts’ relatives said that they believe Bascom might be speaking the truth in relation to an alleged police cover-up of the case.

“We believe what he saying, because we don’t know him, he don’t know us and no one would risk their life for someone he has no relationship with,” they opined.

The relatives are also of the view that the RSS should not just review the investigation done by the Guyanese policemen but conduct an investigation of their own “because if Bascom’s claims of a cover-up are true, then solving Paper Shorts’ murder might never be a reality.”

They also expressed dissatisfaction at Ali’s prolonged silence on the matter. One of them highlighted that he has been vocal on other murder cases in the country and had even met relatives to grant them assurance of justice, but has never said a word about the Paper Shorts’ case until he was recently questioned by a reporter on the Bascom allegations.

 

 

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