Cop flip-flops on first sighting of Bartica massacre accused

Police Constable Chester Benjamin, who identified Roger Simon as being one of the gunmen at the scene of the deadly attack at Bartica in which 12 men were massacred in 2008, yesterday conceded that the first time he saw the man was in the lock-ups at the Mackenzie Police Station.

Although the admission prompted Simon’s lawyer, Peter Hugh, to argue that his client was the victim of a case of “mistaken identity,” Benjamin nonetheless denied that he was mistaken.

Benjamin took the stand yesterday in the High Court at the continuing trial of Simon, called “Goat Man,” Dennis Williams, called “Anaconda,” and Mark Royden Williams, called “Smallie,” who are