VIEWPOINT: Cock-a- Snook
By Jolly Green
This morning, the last day of 2017, I read for the first time the column written by Dr Kenneth John in the Vincentian News Paper, FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2017. From which I have posted some excerpts below.
“The heaviest blow for the ULP so far, was recorded in the cold-blooded murder of Glen Jackson, Press Secretary of the Prime Minister, Ralph Gonsalves”.
“There was trouble in the hierarchy, with Glen promising to drop a bomb on the eve of which he was found murdered, shot through the chest. Ralph was not in the country at the time”
“At Glen’s funeral, his widow spoke of the possibility of “scape-goat” justice, and Julian sang lustily Frank Sinatra’s song: ‘I did it my way’ “.
“Glen’s death remains a mystery. The Prime Minister who called it by its right name an assassination, and Vincent Beache who said that the murder will soon be known, have in the end virtually accepted the “scape-goat” justice”.
“All sorts of mystery surround the death of Glen Jackson”
We all know the Glen Jackson assassination has been written about and aired extensively. But those who killed him are still at large. Both the police and the public quickly forget.
Was Glen Jackson about to expose vote rigging in the 2005 elections? What was he about to expose? Because that may be a key to the mystery.
Prime Minister Dr Ralph E Gonsalves described it as a political assassination during a phone call from Malaysia at the time. He came to that conclusion without any evidence whatsoever of the same. So why did he use such a prematurely chosen set of words? Why? Which I suppose raises the question of why was Glenn Jackson not accompanying the PM during his trip to Malaysia? Glen was after all the official press secretary and personal aide of the Prime Minister. So for what reason was he excluded from that particular official tour? Did he exclude himself or was he excluded by the PM?
There have been other doubtful deaths of other Vincentians but let’s simply deal with the unconcluded case of Glen Jackson for the time being.
But if you want to know about the others see this:
Glen Jackson was identified by the American Embassy in Grenada as their most important asset from SVG, which was confirmed in a Wikileaks disclosure. Was that discovered by the ULP or some rogue group within the party, or even by some well informed ULP parliamentarian? Further possible reasons for assassination, Glen told a number of people that he had booked a TV studio to make a huge political expose video; he was annoyed and greatly upset about something within the ULP leadership. Does anyone know what that was? I am sure someone in or outside the ULP could give us the answer, but they have not? Will they ever? Are they frightened of the consequences to themselves of disclosure?
Those who killed Glen were most obviously experts in forensic evidence, which some may suggest points at the police or someone with a legal background. He had been shot with a single bullet somewhere else before being placed nude in his vehicle; the vehicle had been cleaned of all forensic evidence. No weapon was ever found. His body had been stripped and washed removing all forensic evidence. Doing all this could not be done by one person; there must have been at least two persons, perhaps even a team. No evidence of his slaughter at his home either. Yet despite this a single person was charged with his death, a small inoffensive young gay man called Frances Williams who would not be able to lift a 50lb bag of rice unassisted, let alone move the dead body of Glen Jackson without assistance, and he knew absolutely nothing about forensics. At the time almost no one in SVG believed that this young man would or could carry out the assassination and deal with the body, especially anyone who actually knew him. That raises the question of why was Frances Williams visited in prison by ULP members of parliament long before the trial? Were promises made to him about acquittal? In fact where is he today? Is he living in fear West Coast America with a shed load of money? Is he still alive even?
Despite the glowing comments made by politicians at Glenn’s funeral, his death has been little referred to since, and no one from the party acknowledges him on the annual anniversary of his death, or at any other time come to that.
When Williams the accused was acquitted the Honorable Justice Bruce Lyle ruled that investigators had not followed the proper procedure, and that a confession obtained by the police from Williams was inadmissible.
High Court Judge Frederick Bruce-Lyle ruled that the prosecution could not include as evidence an oral confession received from Williams during the course of the investigation.
Judge Bruce-Lyle also ruled that the manner in which the alleged confession was obtained breached several chapters of the Police Act.
He noted that the police officers in the investigation failed to properly record the confession, and said they had conducted an “awful investigation.”
The Director of Prosecutions Colin Williams would or should have known the inadmissibility of the evidence before it ever went to the Judge. He was prosecuting the case, why did he proceed on such evidence and why did he fail to Nolle prosequi the case? He is pretty quick at doing that normally. Ask Ralph Gonsalves the minister of Legal Affairs I am sure he has first class knowledge on such matters. This case probably cost millions from the public purse, only to be abandoned
It should be noted that Scotland Yard detectives assisted police in Kingstown with the investigation of the murder. Did they investigate the studio booking at the TV Station? There was a Scotland Yard report which was never presented to the court or to the public; where is that report? Perhaps it’s now time for us all to see it! If there is nothing to hide show it to us
The final insult to Glenn’s memory was when an official announcement came after the trial that the case was closed and no other suspect was being looked for. Who made that decision and why? Isn’t that ominous stink there yet once again?
Exactly why did Glens widow talk about “scape-goat justice” did she know Williams was innocent? Did she suspect political assassination? Did she know what Glen was about to reveal?
And the thing that still rings in my ears is the cock a snook song ‘Ï Did It My Way’.
IMAGES:
Miriam F
Picture I-Witness News, SVG
END
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of iNews Cayman, its owners, publishers, editor, or any other entity of this publication
