By LAMECH JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
ljohnson@tribunemedia.net
A MAN who purportedly confessed to murdering his boss because he was annoyed by accusations of sleeping with his girlfriend told a jury yesterday that he was being framed by the police.
Moments after completely denying any involvement with the murder of Fortis Moncur, Jason Glinton was asked by the 12-member jury why he thought police were trying to pin the crime on him despite a video recording and statements stating otherwise.
Glinton replied that he was unsure if his arrest and prosecution was a political affair, but he said that throughout the ordeal, “the only thing that was running through my head was the safety of my wife.”
He claimed he had tried on numerous occasions to give signs that the video recorded inquiry in Cat Island was staged, but the police stopped recording every time he did so.
Glinton, of Devil’s Point, Cat Island, is on trial for the October 2012 murder of Moncur, who was the caretaker at Island Hopping resort where Glinton was employed at the time.
He is alleged to have committed the crime between October 5 and October 18. The deceased’s decomposed and charred remains were discovered by police shortly before midnight on October 18 after officers were notified of a “strange odour” in the area of a track road in Devil’s Point.
Glinton, who is on bail, has denied the allegation. He is defended by Murrio Ducille. Kendra Kelly and Linda Evans are prosecuting the case.
Last week, forensic pathologist Dr Caryn Sands testified that she had not been able to determine the cause of the death from the remains of an unknown person she had examined on November 6, 2012.
Dr Sands said the report from Fairfax came to her “on or around the time I issued the death certificate, which was done in January 2013.”
The results from the report, she said, led her to identify the remains of the unknown person.
In yesterday’s proceedings, following the closing of the Crown’s case, Glinton opted to take the witness stand, from where he denied killing Moncur when questioned by his lawyer.
Glinton said he had been arrested on October 21 and was taken to both the Carmichael Road police station and the Central Detective Unit (CDU), where he was not only denied access to his attorney but was also brutalised and suffocated in an attempt to get him to sign documents he had never seen before.
A body bag had already been in the rooms where he was taken, Glinton said.
The accused said police threatened also to charge his wife if he didn’t agree to do what they wanted him to do. Glinton said when he could no longer stand the brutality, he agreed that he would do what the police told him to do.
The following day, the chief investigator Sgt Keith Rolle and other officers took him to Cat Island. Upon arrival, he claimed that the police told him to pretend that he wasn’t hurt for the video recorded inquiries they would conduct throughout the various settlements.
Glinton said that the video, which showed him directing the police to the location of the victim’s head and body, was all staged because of his wife’s safety being at stake.
Glinton said he was only allowed to see a lawyer when they arrived back in Nassau at the CDU.
Ms Kelly suggested to the accused that he was lying about the police brutality. The suggestion was denied. She asked Glinton if he recalled the video recorded inquiry that was shown to the jury. Glinton said he did. She suggested to Glinton that he told police, in the video, how he had hit Moncur in the head with a piece of wood and thought he was dead before proceeding to cut off his hands, legs and head with a cutlass.
Glinton said he did tell police that, but that he was coerced into saying those things.
The prosecutor suggested to Glinton that his confession of killing Moncur, because he was tired of Moncur’s accusations that he was sleeping with his girlfriend (who also worked at the hotel), was also in his record of interview and statement which were taken before the video recorded inquiry.
Glinton said he had been forced to sign the statement he had never seen before given the threats by police to charge his wife.
The prosecutor suggested that the police never threatened to charge his wife with a criminal offence. Glinton said they did not specifically do so.
He confirmed his wife worked at a local airline at the time and admitted that he may have left Cat Island on October 6, 2012.
However, he denied returning days later to destroy the evidence of the alleged crime. He also denied placing the head of Moncur in a truck at a gas station with intent to frame Ezra Russell, an acquaintance of Moncur with whom he had a disagreement.
The trial resumes on Monday before Justice Carolita Bethell.
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