Exactly nine months ago today, Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal was ambushed and assassinated in Woodbrook, Port-of-Spain, while on her way home. With this anniversary in mind, Seetahal’s family and friends are now “extremely concerned” that the police investigation into her murder may have gone cold. Seetahal’s sister, Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) head Susan Francois, yesterday said the family was worried that the investigations would fall off the police radar having continued into another year.
“It has been nine months,” Francois said. “The family is extremely concerned that we have not been apprised of any progress leading to the arrest of the person or persons involved in this.” Francois also said the family was initially informed of the progress of the police investigations but have since been kept out of the loop. “We have not heard anything for quite some time,” she said, adding that the investigators used to meet with the family “from time to time” but no longer did.
The investigations were initially headed by former Assistant Commissioner of Police Wayne Dick, but have since been transferred to Acting Deputy Commissioner Glenn Hackett. Francois said she was not even aware if the person with responsibility for heading the investigation had been changed. “The family was not informed of any such transfer. We really do not know what is the status of the investigation,” she said.
The Sunday Guardian understands that Seetahal’s family is meeting next week to decide on their next course of action.
CoP: Probe at sensitive stage
Acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams, former lead investigator Wayne Dick, and current investigator on the case ASP Kenrick Edwards have described the investigation as “sensitive” and “at a critical point.” The three men also refused to reveal any details of the investigation. Williams said the case dominated media interest last year, which led to all kinds of theories being ventilated in the public domain.
“I cannot say which are true and which are not because to do that would be to dissect the evidence available to us and say which is correct and which is not correct,” he said. “And I cannot do that.” He said, however, the details of the probe were not for public consumption. “The fundamental issue is whether the police can solve the case or whether it will remain unsolved. That is the issue. And I can tell you that investigators are working assiduously to solve this murder,” he said.
Asked how many times investigators had met with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for guidance, Williams said that was not an important issue. “It does not matter how many times because it is not like the investigators go to the DPP with a pool of clues and leads...some cases they could meet with the DPP once and solve the case, other investigations require much more meetings,” he said.
However, the Sunday Guardian understands that the officers have held several hours-long meetings with DPP Roger Gaspard over the past few months and have recently been guided by him on the case. The investigations are “far from cold,” police sources said. Edwards, in a brief interview yesterday, also refused to comment on the case. “I am not at liberty to discuss or disclose any information because of the stage that the investigations are at right now,” he said.
Dick confirmed that he had handed over the case to Hackett, but also said he was not at liberty to discuss the case. “Yes, I have handed over the case but I cannot venture into any information that may have a detrimental effect on the investigations,” Dick said.
A look back
Seetahal was murdered in the early hours of May 4, 2014, after leaving the Mau Pau casino in Woodbrook. Reports on the incident stated that Seetahal was ambushed by attackers in two vehicles at the corner of Hamilton Holder Street and O’Connor Street, Woodbrook, and shot to death at close range with a small handgun.
Early media reports noted that as many as 15 spent shells were collected at the site, but autopsy reports revealed she was shot five times. Seetahal’s murder rocked the legal fraternity, country and the region. In the days immediately following her assassination, speculation and rumour ran wild, and several sectors of the society were incriminated in her murder.
Reports initially pointed to Muslim members of an East-based mosque, whereas later in the year reports claimed that the triggerman behind her murder was killed in a police shootout. By June 2014, published reports put the investigations at a “critical high point.”