Co-accused in ‘Bunny’ Francis murder case released
Published:Tuesday | October 13, 2020 | 12:10 AMPaul Clarke/Gleaner Writer
One of the four co-accused men in the June 2011 murder of well-known seafood businessman Roderick ‘Bunny’ Francis was released yesterday as the Crown was unable to find sufficient evidence tying him to the killing.
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn said there was insufficient material “to provide the requisite nexus to the standard required” in the matter against Newton Welsh.
Welsh had been charged along with Carlos Batista, Sheldon Watson and George Gardner with the murder.
Diane Jobson, who represented Welsh, said the evidence against her client was skimpy and that the DPP made the right call.
“She would have come into the case very belatedly and would have gone over the evidence with her two assistants and she offered no evidence, so I think she did the right thing,” Jobson said.
The attorney noted her client was in good spirits with the weight of a murder accusation hanging over his head being lifted.
Llewellyn said the Crown will be seeking to prove that each of the remaining three men had a specific role in a plot to kill Francis with Batista producing resources to acquire a car, which transported the killer to the scene.
“The Crown is seeking to prove that Watson was the driver of the vehicle which went on the scene that day and that he facilitated repairs, which were effected to the vehicle after the incident, as the car was damaged during the incident,” Llewellyn told The Gleaner.
Further, the DPP said that the Crown will be seeking to prove that Gardner was the “trigger man” and that the court will hear from 36 witnesses.
Francis was shot and injured outside his Queensway home in St Andrew in June 2011 but later died at hospital. It is believed that his murder was a contract killing.