Balram Maharaj...
died in camp.

For the past 48 days, the T&T Guardian has been running this exclusive story on the kidnap and murder of Trinidadian, Balram “Balo” Maharaj, a US citizen. For nine months, this remained a perfect crime in Trinidad. This was until the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) closed in on suspects and the crime was solved. For the past 48 days, the Guardian reported on what transpired at the trial, which was held at the Washington Federal Court before Judge John Bates. Seven Trinidadians faced trial—Ricardo De Four, Zion Clarke, Kevon Demerieux, Wayne Pierre, Kevin Nixon, Anderson Straker, and Christopher Sealey. Four others, described as co-conspirators, gave evidence for the US Government in return, hopefully, for a lighter sentence. They were Leon Nurse, Jason Percival, Russel Joseph, and Winston Gittens. At the end of the two-month trial, the seven defendants were found guilty and now face mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole. The four co-conspirators will also be sentenced, but it will be up to the judge to decide their sentence, although recommendations would be made by the US Government.

The sentence has been put to February 12, 2010. Why so far away after the convictions of July 31? There are two issues to be cleared up before sentencing. First, an issue arose that Maharaj was not a citizen of the US and, therefore, the entire trial was a nullity. A criminal motion is pending for determination. Should Bates rule that Balo was not a US citizen, then all the convicted men and co-conspirators would be returned to Trinidad. The second issue was the absence of the alibi documents for Ricardo De Four. The former soldier contends that he was attending a special forces course at Camp Omega, Chaguaramas, on April 6, 2005—the day that Balo was kidnapped from the Samaan Tree Bar, Aranquez. Despite every effort to get the documents, De Four was unable to raise his alibi at the trial. His attorneys tried for months to get the log sheet and gate slips from the Defence Force. It was only on October 14, that the Ministry of National Security responded, saying the documents were incinerated because the 40-foot container in which the documents were stored were damaged from the rains.

Should De Four get what he is asking for, he would present it to the judge and seek a retrial. Witnesses have put De Four on the scene when Balo was kidnapped at 6.30 pm. De Four denied this, saying he was in Chaguaramas and could never have been involved in the kidnapping. The prosecution made heavy weather of this. The jury heard De Four’s direct testimony and heard from lots of witnesses, but none of them remembered seeing him at work on April 6, 2005. The records, which were tendered in court, showed De Four teaching on the course up to 12 midday. According to the prosecution, no one had any recollection of his presence on the day in question, but he needed permission to leave the camp. A senior soldier who gave a deposition, said the departure records of a camp would only show the driver and not the passengers in the vehicle.

What the prosecution said
Assistant US attorney, Emily Miller, in her closing address, said the four co-conspirators turned up in court to tell the truth. She said they faced life imprisonment if they did not. “What other motivation was there for them to come here and tell the truth about what happened. “You have heard the confessions/admissions and letters from five of the defendants. Zion Clarke pointed William Clauss to the site where the body was located. He also gave a false identification of the camp site. He took the authorities to the ridge of a cliff and told them where to dig to find the evidence. When they dug, they found the evidence. Sgt Wendell Lucas asked him in which container was the victim’s head and a subsequent check confirmed the guidance given by Clarke.” Sealey said he was the gunman, he went to the Samaan Tree Bar and told Balo “is you we come for.” She said Straker, Demerieux and De Four all had their roles to play.

She said Balo was an imperfect man who was guilty of child abduction. It was Straker who brought the plan to Nurse in Chaguaramas, and that was to kidnap Balo’s son. Nurse was the one who advised against taking the child and told them to take the father instead. Nurse took the plan to De Four, who knew about clandestine matters and how not to get identified. De Four knew Percival as they were both involved in the Dexter Jagdeo kidnapping. There were two crews operating—one from Santa Cruz headed by Wayne Pierre, who was described as the godfather. The other crew was the soldiers, De Four, Stevenson, and Nurse. Next there were the two gunmen, Shaka and Boyie. Miller said Demerieux knew that Balo was sick and needed his medication and he did nothing about it. After Balo died, Pierre said “no body, no evidence.” “They butchered Balo and took out his entrails with both hands. Russel Joseph pointed out the persons in court who chopped up the body.

You heard the ransom calls. Joseph, Percival, and Gittens identified all the defendants. Gittens never identified De Four. “You have to ask yourself how this crime can be solved. No one at the Samaan tree bar could identify any of the accused. The events took place with lightning speed. How then could it have been solved? The only way to solve this crime, therefore, is to get some of the people involved in the crime to speak, and to do so we have to make deals and get their cooperation. “We had to make sure, however, that those persons were 100 per cent honest otherwise they could not get substantial assistance letters. They, therefore, have an enormous incentive to tell the truth. You have to look at what the collaborators have to lose if they lie.” Although Miller spent considerable time on each defendant, she focused on De Four. She asked the jury to view the testimony of his friends with suspicion. She pointed out that several soldiers had come forward to support their colleague.

One, she said, even noted that De Four was duped into giving a confession to the police. Miller said after De Four was arrested, he remained silent. She said De Four later gave a statement in which he stated that he left camp on April 6, 2005 at about 4 pm after receiving a call from Percival. He signed every page of the interview notes recounting every thing. “He did not say then that his confession was false or was fraudulently obtained. He had an upright military bearing at the start of the interview and later started to bend his head. He paused for a while and looked like a man caught out. What he never told you on the stand was where he was on April 6, 2005.” Miller pointed the jury to the cellphone records for De Four. Between 4.13 pm and 5.30 pm on April 6, 2005, there were eight calls between De Four and Percival.

She said in May 2005, there were 27 calls between De Four and Percival. Miller was brutal in her closing. “Look at the elements of the crime—there are seven, a US national seized and detained, they compelled a third party to pay money, or caused acts to be done. They acted intentionally, deliberately and not by mistake, they knowingly volunteered and joined to commit the crime. “The Government has proven that the death resulted from being held hostage. We do not have to prove that death was part of the original plan. The death was caused by hostage taking. There is no perfect case or solution, but the prosecution has brought you a powerful statement. Weigh the evidence and look at it without bias or prejudice. Find them guilty!” Miller ended.