A VETERAN New York police investigator has condemned the “incompetence” displayed by the Bahamas police in their “botched” investigation into the death of Preston Ferguson in Exuma. The family of Mr Ferguson were left outraged when police ruled that he died as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident. Mr Ferguson’s grieving relatives, however, claim all the evidence points to murder . And they now have the backing of retired Detective Sergeant Nathaniel Santine III, who happened upon the family’s plight by reading our website Tribune242.com last week. After reviewing the family’s evidence, he criticised the police for allowing vital DNA evidence, including clothing and hair samples, to go missing; and for failing to impound the vehicle in which the body was found and comb it for forensic evidence and fingerprints. “Incompetence played a role in what looks like a botched investigation. This is not a petty crime where the consequences are minimal, this crime resulted in a death and beyond the capture of the perpetrators, the investigators failed to secure evidence to protect the rights of the victim,” Det Santine said. He said the authorities need to explain why the investigation was carried out in such an unprofessional manner, and punish those responsible. The detective noted a number of holes in the police’s theory that Mr Ferguson died while driving alone as a result of his head colliding with a utility pole. The official version of events suggests he died while sitting on the driver’s side, but the 40-year veteran, who spent his career investigating crimes in King’s County, the Bronx, Staten Island and New Jersey, said the blood and glass evidence make this impossible. “It is obvious that the blood on the floor of the vehicle was not from a victim of an accident; but instead is from a person bleeding and being laid or slumped on that portion of the vehicle. “The velocity of the blood also created a pattern that trickled onto the driver’s side. The carpet of the floor after being sampled should have been removed to reveal the settling pattern of the blood on the metal floor and shift gears. “The glass evidence also cannot be explained away. It is impossible by the law of physics for a traffic accident to occur, smashing a side glass and leaving broken glass under the victim – who was said to be sitting on top of the glass and not having any on his person, including fragments in his wound. “If a collision is violent enough to cause a fatal injury, the wound must be explained. This has not been done, and the body would not be found in an upright position; but instead thrown from the vehicle or tossed within the cab of the vehicle. “ According to Det Santine, there is “more than enough evidence” in the family’s photos of the crime scene to suggest that an in-depth investigation should have been ordered. “It is obvious that proper protocol was not followed in investigating this matter. It appears as if the responding officers in their haste to categorise a traffic accident, missed or ignored some key steps. “This level of incompetence as it relates to inefficient police investigations should not go unrecognised or unpunished. The responsible officers and their superiors should be held accountable,” he said. Detective Santine is from a law enforcement family spanning several generations. His grandfather, father and two brothers are all law enforcement officers. He worked for more than 25 years in major crimes, including crime analysis, community and problem-oriented policing, beat/manpower allocation, crime trend analysis, traffic enforcement and analysis and risk-focused prevention/ juvenile recreation. He has a BA in criminal justice and Sociology from Columbia University in New York and now spends his spare time actively following the investigation of cold cases in his county.
• Read the full text of Detective Santine’s findings.
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