PI into Dexter Rodney’s murder begins

The Preliminary Inquiry (PI) into a matter in which Denzil ‘Scammie’ Sam has been charged with the murder of Dexter ‘Captain’ Rodney began on Wednesday at the Serious Offences Court.

So far, three persons have given evidence from the witness stand, including Rodney’s mother, who broke into tears during an emotional testimony, before telling the court that the inquiry began on her deceased son’s birthday.

On December 3, 2015, Sam was apprehended by police, after he was identified as the gunman behind the October 1, 2015 shooting of Rodney at Rose Place. Rodney did not die immediately, but succumbed to the gunshot wounds a few months after the incident.

Shortly after the shooting, the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force issued a wanted notice for the accused in relation to the offence of attempted murder. After two months on the run, police caught Sam in a house in Ottley Hall.

Besides being charged with attempted murder, Sam was also charged with having a .380 pistol in his possession, with seven rounds of .380 ammunition, a charge that landed him a six-year prison term.

However, during that trial he strongly maintained that the firearm was not his.

In an interview with SEARCHLIGHT before succumbing to his wounds, Rodney, 25, said he was exiting ‘The Plant Shop’ on Lower Bay Street when he was approached by a man who told him that he (Rodney) had been paid to kill him and had shot him three times.

“When he see me ah drop, he run off. No mask, no nothing,” Rodney told SEARCHLIGHT from his bed at the male surgical ward at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH).

Rodney said he knew his attacker and what the attacker alleged about him was false.

The PI continues on February 1, 2017.(AS)