Prosecution wants maximum sentence for Collymore and contract killer for murder of wife and taxi driver

The prosecution wants Omar Collymore and the man whom he contracted to murder his wife and her taxi driver to serve close to 50 years in prison before being eligible for parole.

Collymore and his cronies, however, will have to wait until next week Tuesday to know what their fate will be when the hearing is expected to be concluded.

Simone Campbell-Collymore and Winston Walters were killed when men rode up on motorbikes and sprayed them with bullets as they waited to be let inside Campbell-Collymore's Forest Ridge apartment complex in Red Hills, St Andrew on January 2, 2018.

The 32-year-old mother of two was shot 19 times, while the taxi driver was shot five times.

Collymore, 41, a United States businessman; contract killer Michael Adams and Dwayne Pink were all found guilty of the murders of both victims as well as conspiracy to murder on May 15, following a four-month long trial.

Meanwhile, co-accused Shaquilla Edwards was only convicted of murder conspiracy.

Acting Senior Director of Public Prosecutions, Andrea Martin Swaby, during her submission before Justice Leighton Pusey, asked that both Collymore and Adams be sentenced to life in prison for each of the murders, with the men serving 46 1/2 years in prison before parole eligibility in respect to Campbell-Collymore's murder and 48 1/2 years for Walters' murder.

She, however, recommended a slightly lower sentence for Pink based on the minimal role he played in the murder plot.

Martin Swaby asked also that he be sentenced to life in prison for both murders but that he be ordered to serve 41 1/2 years before being eligible for parole for Campbell-Collymore's murder and 43 1/2 for the other murder.

As it relates to Edwards, she recommended 6 1/2 years, but the judge told her that given that the maximum is ten years and that the convict has already served 6 1/2 years in prison, that time would be outside of the court's jurisdiction.

As a result, he told her she could only propose 3 1/2 years.

'WORST OF THE WORST'

Martin Swaby, further in her submission, proposed a starting point of 45 years for Collymore and Adams, and 40 years for Pink.

She argued that the case at hand, based on the circumstances, falls within the category of cases described as the "worst of the worst", noting that the starting point must reflect the seriousness and gravity of the offence.

Pointing to the case of Christopher Locke, where the convict had set his lover ablaze after she ended the relationship, she argued that although only one person was killed, the judge accepted that the case fell within the mentioned category and used a starting point of 50 years.

Turning to the aggravating factors, she asked the judge to accept Collymore's plotting of his wife's murder as a factor along with the involvement of the convicts and others, as well as the impact of the murder on the community, family of the deceased and the society.

She also asked that Walters' murder be treated as a factor.

"His killing must be considered to be an additional aggravating feature demonstrating the total disregard for human life and a deliberate attempt to remove any possible witness to the killing of Mrs Collymore," she said.

Equally, the prosecutor submitted that the evidence led depicted a "chilling demonstration of a well-organised and orchestrated contract to kill" and that a strong message should be sent to society to persons who are involved or the organisers, that it should not be tolerated.

MULTIMILLION DOLLAR INSURANCE POLICIES

The trial of the four men heard that Collymore hired Adams to facilitate the murder of his wife and that Edwards and Pink allegedly played a role in surveilling the businesswoman's movements before her death.

One of the triggermen in Campbell-Collymore's murder previously testified that he was told that the hit was for $2 million.

Wade Blackwood, a confessed member of the Unruly Gang, who is currently serving two life sentences for the murders, had disclosed that he got the price tag from the other shooter, 'Jim' (the now-deceased alleged leader of the Unruly Gang), to which they all reportedly belonged.

Blackwood also testified that Adams was the contract killer and was the one who spoke with the man who had ordered the hit on the woman.

Among the evidence presented was that Collymore was the sole beneficiary on his wife's $21-million life insurance policy and was allotted 70 per cent of her second life insurance policy worth $80 million.

Campbell-Collymore had finalised an $80-million life insurance policy less than three months before she was murdered to add to the $21-million policy.

Collymore also took out a life insurance policy for $80 million, with his wife and children as beneficiaries.

Phone data evidence also showed that there was continuous communication between Collymore and the contract killer on the days leading up to his wife's murder, and in one of the text messages sent two days before her death, he was urging the person “to hurry up” and to “do it this morning”.

The data also showed a pattern where Collymore would often call his wife before calling or attempting to make contact with the contract killer, often within the space of a minute.

Specifically, phone data records showed that Collymore had called his wife for a minute, half an hour before she was murdered, and immediately after, he made another minute-long call to the man whom he contracted to have her killed.

The phone data records further revealed that Adams and one of the shooters, Jim, exchanged several calls on the day of the shooting.

Cell site data also placed Jim close to the woman's apartment when the calls started.

However, Collymore and Adams, in their defence, said that there was no conspiracy and that their frequent communication was about business, specifically about phones that Adams was given to sell and the return of some which were defective.

Collymore also maintained that he loved his wife dearly and would never kill her.

Additionally, he said he was not aware of the details of her $80 million life insurance policy and would not have sanctioned her leaving him 70 per cent of the benefit.

Pink also maintained his innocence and that he did not take part in the murder plot, while Edwards said that he was initially involved but did not know the full details and eventually pulled out before the murder was committed.

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