Ex-cop calls Coard cold-blooded killer

(Barbados Nation) – Jasper Watson, the lead investigator into the murder of Grenada’s Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and his cabinet, has described Bernard Coard as a cold-blooded killer who wanted power at any cost.

Referring to those convicted for the October 19, 1983 killings, the last batch of whom were released from prison two weeks ago, the retired police superintendent said they should have been hanged.

“They are natural cold-blooded murderers – that’s what they are. They should have met their end by the hangman’s noose,” Watson stated.

In an interview conducted by the Trinidad Express and released on Sunday, Coard claimed he along with his wife Phyllis, then army boss Hudson Austin and others were “sporadically beaten to force us to sign certain statements” referring to the several confessions produced by police officers during the murder trial.

But Watson, who retired from the Royal Barbados Police Force more than ten years ago has refuted the allegations.

“I personally interviewed Coard. One day he said to me that if it took him 50 years or 100 years, he would ensure that he got after me because he wanted me killed.