Defence wants surveillance tape checked
A third man was yesterday charged with the murder of the two Brazilian miners who were gunned down at a Regent Street guest house in April.
Lloyd Sadloo, 27, of Hill Street, Albouystown was charged jointly with Ryan Clemenson, 20, and Charles Hackett, 47, of 99 New Grove Housing Scheme. Clemenson and Hackett had been charged with the murders on April 21. Those charges were withdrawn and a new charge including Sadloo was instituted against the three men.
It is alleged that on April 11, at the said location they shot and killed 45-year-old Silverino Pequeno Alves Junio and 46-year-old Francisco Lima. It is also alleged that on the same day, being armed with a gun they robbed Jose Alenor Ovido D’Oliveira of $1.5 million. The men were not required to plead to the indictable charges.
Clemenson’s attorney Adrian Thompson asked the court for an early date to proceed with the matter. On the previous occasion he had told the court that his client had been picked out in an identification parade (ID) parade. He had said that a surveillance tape from the guest house was made available to the police and it would clearly show that Clemenson was not involved in any of the alleged activities. Thompson had argued that there was no point in prolonging the matter and having the two men incarcerated when a simple viewing of the tape would clear up the issue. Thompson had also said that it all depended on whether or not the men seen on the tape are the two accused.
On that occasion Police Prosecutor Shellon Daniels had told the court that D’Oliveira identified the men in an ID parade. She had not commented on the alleged tape. Further Daniels had requested a date for report to seek advice on how to proceed with the matter. The matter was called again on May 14.
Alves Junio and Lima were shot dead around 1.10 pm at the guest house where they usually stayed. According to police investigations the Brazilians had gone to a diamond establishment to do business and D’Oliveira collected the money from there. The men returned to the guest house and had been in the bar when one gunman entered and, under the guise of being a patron, ordered a drink. According to reports while he was being attended to he pulled out a firearm and attacked D’Oliveira; hitting him in the head while taking away the bag with the money. Alves Junio reportedly tried to render assistance when he was shot in the head. It had also been reported that Lima ran out of the building to escape but the other gunman waiting outside shot him in the abdomen. The gunmen escaped on a motorcycle that was parked outside the establishment.
Alves Junio was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital while Lima died while being treated. D’Oliveira was treated and discharged.
Meanwhile, Sadloo is no stranger to the courts. He was recently granted $50,000 bail when he appeared before Principal Magistrate Melissa Robertson-Ogle to answer to a charge of escaping lawful custody.
It was alleged that on December 31, at the Brickdam Police Station while in custody pending a criminal charge of robbery under arms, Sadloo escaped. His attorney, Mohamed Zafar had told the court that his client and three other persons were in a car on the way to the Woodlands Hospital, when they were stopped by police.
He had said they were taken to the said police station and two policemen, who are being investigated by the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, kept his client in custody. Zafar said the policemen had asked his client for $35,000 for his release which he had given to them. Sadloo had also said that he was never told about any criminal charges against him and declared that the officers had “cook-up” the entire story.
Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton remanded the three men and ordered them to appear in court on August 29.
