Three freed in fiery double murder case after key witness cannot be found

Three men accused in a fiery double murder case in which the victims were found in a bathtub have been freed after the prosecution said its sole eyewitness could not be located.

The men were freed in the Home Circuit Court on Thursday after the Crown conceded that there was insufficient evidence to proceed.

The deceased were identified as 30-year-old Clifton Grant, otherwise called ‘Lickle Man’, and 21-year-old Romario Raymond, otherwise called ‘Dada’, both of Torrington Park, Kingston.

Freed are labourers Malic Saunders, Paul Cort and Omar Brown, otherwise called ‘Warlord’, all of Torrington Park, Kingston 5.

The men had been charged with two counts of murder, arson and illegal possession of a firearm.

When the case came up for trial, the investigating officer told the court that the sole eyewitness, who resides overseas, could not be located despite numerous attempts.

As a result, the Crown conceded that the matter could not proceed. The men were then formally acquitted and freed by Justice Chester Stamp.

Attorneys-at-law Earl Hamilton, JonPaul Hamilton, Patrick Peterkin and Jonoi McDonald welcomed the Crown's decision to discontinue the prosecution against their clients.

It was alleged that about 2:30 am on April 17, 2020, the three accused and other accomplices were seen by the eyewitness firing shots at the victims' premises before setting the house on fire.

The police and the Jamaica Fire Brigade responded to the scene.

During cooling-down operations, the bodies of Grant and Raymond were discovered in a bathtub inside the house. They were later pronounced dead at the Kingston Public Hospital.

A police investigation subsequently led to the arrest and charging of the three men.

- Rasbert Turner

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