Murder investigation was ‘woeful’
A “woeful” police investigation has led to an innocent man being charged with murder, according to a defence lawyer.
Jerome Lynch, KC, made the assertion during the trial of Raheem Wray, who is charged with the stabbing death of Osagi Bascome.
Mr Bascome, who played for the Bermuda national football team, died from two stab wounds inflicted during a fight at the Fun Zone centre in St David’s in the early hours of December 18, 2021.
Delivering his closing address to the jury yesterday morning, Mr Lynch said that his client was “the wrong man” and that Mr Wray’s friend, Jahnazae Swan, was “probably the real culprit”.
He also claimed that the officer leading the inquiry, whom he identified as a Sergeant Thorpe, believed that the case was “a slam dunk” and did not consider investigating other potential suspects once Mr Wray had been arrested and charged.
Mr Lynch condemned detectives for failing to obtain any forensic evidence during the investigation.
In testimony on Thursday, Mr Wray said that he went to Fun Zone with Mr Swan, driving there in the latter’s car.
The pair left at about 3am as the party was winding down. As they were about to pull out of the parking lot, Mr Swan was approached by Mr Bascome’s brother, Onias Bascome, who claimed that Mr Swan’s younger brother had punched the footballer.
Mr Wray said that Mr Swan then got out of the vehicle and approached Osagi Bascome. A fight broke out between the two men, which developed into a mêlée as bystanders “jumped in”.
In his evidence, Mr Wray claimed that he remained close to the car and was sitting in the passenger seat when Mr Swan returned from the brawl. He said the pair then left the scene and he did not learn that Mr Bascome had been stabbed to death until later that morning.
In court yesterday, Mr Lynch said that the evidence pointed to Mr Swan being the prime suspect, and he accused the investigating team of failing to pursue that line of inquiry vigorously.
He said that there was tension between Mr Swan and the victim over a drug debt that Mr Bascome had refused to pay, and that, according to the victim’s brother, Mr Swan was “hyped and angry” on the night of the killing.
Mr Swan was identified by one independent witness as the man involved in the initial fight with Mr Bascome, and Mr Lynch also pointed out that Mr Swan left the island last year and his whereabouts are not known.
Mr Lynch told the jury: “We say that not only is the defendant not guilty, we can point the finger at who is.”
He said that Mr Bascome was “much loved and will be sorely missed”, adding: “Those who loved him will want and are entitled to justice, but convicting the wrong man will not be justice.”
Pointing to Mr Wray, he said: “He is the wrong man, and the real culprit was probably Naz Swan.”
Turning to the police investigation, Mr Lynch said that detectives failed to track down the car that Mr Swan drove to and from Fun Zone, despite the only road out of St David’s being monitored by CCTV cameras.
“Are you telling me that good police work could not identify the car?” he asked.
“I find that utterly extraordinary. Had they got the car, forensics might have been there. But it wasn’t obtained because the police work wasn’t done properly.”
“What did they do? They took his [Mr Swan’s] motorbike, which had nothing to do with it.”
Mr Lynch alleged that officers made similar errors when carrying out a search of Mr Swan’s home.
He said that they found that his bedroom had been “stripped bare” and no clothing or bedding could be seized as evidence.
He said: “When asked about this, Naz said that he had taken everything to the laundromat three days before the incident.
“We cannot speculate, but we can expect the police to do their job. Where were the clothes he was wearing on December 18? It defies any kind of logic at all.”
Mr Lynch agreed with prosecutor Cindy Clarke that the Crown’s case was based on identification evidence, which he said had a reputation for being “notoriously unreliable”. Forensic evidence, he argued, would have led police to the real killer.
He said: “Imagine if you had got clothes and there was blood on them. That would change the whole complexion of this case. But there were no forensics because they didn’t look for them.”
Mr Lynch also said that he had written to police while Mr Wray was held at Westgate awaiting trial, informing them that his client had learnt of fresh evidence that he wanted to share with detectives. That request was turned down.
He said: “How naive we were to believe that there would be further inquiries. According to Sergeant Thorpe, this was a slam dunk. Case closed.
“Charges are only laid once a thorough investigation has taken place, and this investigation was particularly flawed. That should not be held against Mr Wray.
“The evidence is that Naz was the culprit. This woeful investigation is disappointing in the extreme.”
Proceedings were adjourned today before Assistant Judge Mark Pettingill could complete his directions to the jury.
The trial is scheduled to resume on Monday, when the jury is expected to start its deliberations.
Although Jerome Lynch argued that police had botched their investigation into Osagi Bascome’s murder, he pointed out that they were hampered by a lack of witnesses who were willing to come forward.
Because of Covid regulations, guests attending Fun Zone on the night Mr Bascome was murdered were required to sign in and provide addresses and telephone numbers.
Records show that 83 partygoers gave their names that night in December, 2021. Despite police efforts to contact those potential witnesses, only one woman was willing to come forward and testify.
During his closing statement yesterday, Mr Lynch condemned that attitude.
He said: “There were clearly many witnesses at Fun Zone; 83 names demonstrates that there was a considerable number of people there.
“But only one came forward. It is a tragedy for the family and the country that no one was prepared to come forward.
“Is this where we have gotten to, this code of silence that has permeated our society?
“Imagine if there had been ten or 15 witnesses, how it would be. But we got just one witness trickling through.
“Have we got to the point where being a snitch is seen as worse than being a killer? Is that where we are?”
Mr Lynch also noted that none of the dozens of people at the scene dialled 911 to call for emergency assistance. He said that police were unaware that there had been an incident until after a dying Mr Bascome arrived at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.
A reluctance to co-operate with the authorities was also referred to by Assistant Justice Pettingill during his directions to the jury, describing it as “a social affliction that we are suffering from”.
