Gangster boasted of parading severed head in bucket for days, court told

In another alarming revelation about the savagery allegedly carried out by the One Don Gang, the self-confessed former member testified on Tuesday that one of his ex-cronies had boasted to him about walking around with the head of a rival in a bucket for days.

The prosecution’s second star witness said some of the alleged gang members had also “bragged about how much duppy dem have pon ice”.

The man who was reportedly beheaded was identified only as ‘Doan’ and was said to be aligned to a faction of the Clansman Gang, allegedly led by Tesha Miller.

One Don is a breakaway of the Clansman Gang.

The prosecution witness shared the grisly details while being cross-examined in the Home Circuit Court by attorney-at-law Lynden Wellesley, on the behalf of defendant Fabian Johnson, otherwise called ‘Crocs’.

“Crocs ever boasting that him have Doan head in a bucket walking around for days,” the witness said.

He further explained that Johnson had told him that he beheaded the man in Ocho Rios, St Ann, and buried his body in bushes.

In volunteering why the man was allegedly murdered, the witness said he was informed that “he was the one who was giving them the most trouble”.

The former top-tier member gave the information about the beheading after Wellesley asked him how the alleged gang members always confessed to him.

The witness, however, sought to explain that those disclosures mainly happened in group conversations.

Wellesley pressed him on why he had not pointed that out in his testimony, but the ex-gangster told him that his client had confessed to him many times and talked about one of the instances that he could recall.

The lawyer, in response to the witness’ revelation about his client, asked if he had put that in his statement. The witness said, “No.”

Wellesley later suggested that his client was never in the witness’ company and had never made any confession about decapitating anyone and carrying around their head in a bucket. However, the witness insisted that he was telling the truth.

The ex-gangster further rubbished suggestions from the attorney that the reason why he had outed the gang was to save himself after he was named a person of interest by the police.

Volunteered to help

The witness had previously testified that he had volunteered to assist the police to build a case against the gang as he wanted to save Jamaica and to stop their activities.

But Wellesley told the witness that he was wanted by the police after two of his cronies, ‘Sussman’ and ‘Razeem’, were fatally killed in his car, where his driver’s licence and a cell phone were recovered.

“That’s the day you decided to change your life,” he added

But the witness, in disagreeing with the lawyer’s account, said he had rented the car for reputed leader Andre ‘Blackman’ Bryan.

Wellesley, however, told the witness that he became afraid after he was named a person of interest and ran to the police.

“You were afraid so you pull the trigger and went to the police with a narrative that suits you, didn’t you?” he asked.

“Afraid of what?” the witness asked.

The former gangster also told the lawyer that had he been afraid, he would not have put himself in the position he was now.

The witness earlier reiterated that he knew he could be killed after the trial, regardless of where in the island or world he was located.

Furthermore, he said, the tale about being wanted had been fed by him to the alleged gang members.

“I was working with the police at that time. I wasn’t a person of interest,” he said.

Wellesley, in further trying to discredit the witness, told him that he had been arrested along with two others in February 2017 for possession of illegal firearm and assault.

But the witness quickly declared: “Not that I know of. I have never ever been arrested in my life.”

Further in the cross-examination, Wellesley sought to pour scorn on the witness’ account that he was a don but that he had never had a gun or used one, nor given any orders for anyone to be killed.

The attorney also made a mockery of the witness’ testimony that he had only armed himself with a machete and crate of bottle bombs when he went on a mission with the gang where the members had reportedly killed a man and woman and firebombed their home in St Catherine.

The witness, however, said that he never needed to arm himself as gang members were always in his community keeping watch and he was usually in Blackman’s company.

Moreover, he said that even if he had wanted a gun, he would not have secured one, as Blackman never wanted him to shoot anyone.

Wellesley, however, labelled the witness dishonest, deceptive, deceitful, and dangerous.

Bryan and 32 other alleged gang members are being tried on an indictment with 25 counts under the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organizations) Act and the Firearms Act.

The witness will continue to face more cross-examination when the trial resumes today.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com