The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle, who was the head of the Royal Bahamas Police Force when Constable Robert Wright Jr’s death was ruled a suicide, is now distancing himself from the case after a Coroner’s Court jury ruled this week that the 23-year-old officer was murdered.

“It is unfortunate, the events surrounding that,” Mr Rolle told The Tribune on Thursday, following the

jury’s verdict. “The matter was before the Coroner’s Court. It has obviously ruled so those that are responsible now. I have no dealings with that case, that was dealt with in Grand Bahama.”

The ruling brought long-awaited validation for Wright Jr’s family, particularly his father, retired officer Robert Wright Sr, who has consistently rejected the police’s original determination and accused senior officials, including Mr Rolle, of mishandling the investigation.

Mr Wright Sr has also condemned comments Mr Rolle made in 2021 about men who died by suicide, which he believed were directed at his son.

“One thing, when my son was murdered, Paul Rolle was Commissioner of Police, and he went on national TV and said my son was weak.

I will never forgive him for that. That’s my squadmate,” he said last week.

Mr Rolle, however, denied ever referring to Wright Jr specifically. In early 2021, amid a public discussion on suicide statistics, he said: “We had a few of those that we know were domestic related where the fellas are weak and they killed themselves because they were having issues with their females.”

He did not name anyone, and later apologised for the generalisation.

“I never have no dealings with Robert Wright and his son, not with referring to his son as being weak,” Mr Rolle said on Thursday. “I think the matter has already been in the media.”

Constable Wright Jr was found dead on May 14, 2021, in his vehicle with a gunshot wound to the head. His service weapon was in his right hand. Police quickly classified the death as a suicide. Mr Wright Sr has emphasised discrepancies he believes point to foul play: the family — not police — discovered the body; photos differed on the location of the weapon; and the officer, who was lefthanded, allegedly had the weapon placed in his right hand in police images. He also cited the absence of his son’s bulletproof vest in official photos and mentioned an unverified tip about a police vehicle seen near the scene before a gunshot was heard.

“The murderer needs to be found,” he said.