On our New Year’s Eve newscast we told you that the Ministry of National Security had set up a special inquiry team to investigate the circumstances surrounding the release of Andre Aguilar. Aguilar, you will recall, was briefly a suspect in the murder of Chris Galvez on December 22nd. He’s the one who picked up Galvez at his home on Vernon Street and then took him to a boat yard on Faber’s Road where he was executed. He also allegedly admitted to police that after the murder in which Galvez bled to death – he busied himself taking the license plates off the car they were in.
Suspicious behaviour, but according to the Galvez Family he was released nine hours after he was detained without being charged. Police Commissioner Crispin Jeffries has gone on record to dispute that; he says Aguilar was released 24 hours after – and that is because police felt that is necessary charges could be brought after. But they can’t because, according to reports, Aguilar has gone to the United States.
But tonight we have an interview with a young man who says he was in the cell with Andre Aguilar and disputes Jefferies time frame for the Aguilar detention. He showed us a charge sheet which puts him in the cell on the night of the murder which was December 22nd and says he met Aguilar in there, but after a short while, he was gone, not to be seen again. Fearing reprisals from police has asked us to conceal his face and disguise his voice.
Witness,
“I just see the young man came into the station at about 12:30 the morning and 12:30 in the morning all of us are locked down in different cells and thing but by 6:30 the morning and thing, the young guy was gone.”
Jules Vasquez,
“You saw him there up until what time did you see him there?”
Witness,
“Three o’clock in the morning and then they took him upstairs, brought back down, and then everybody went to sleep and by the morning he was done gone. We didn’t see when he gone.”
Jules Vasquez,
“So Mr. Jeffries has gone on record to say that he was detained for 24 hours, but from what you saw, he was only detained for a couple hours.”
Witness,
“Yes cause I get charged with domestic abuse and I went to court like 9:30 the morning and the person was already gone.”
Jules Vasquez,
“So now how you view this?”
Witness,
“If it was a black dude that did that, they would have kept him in the jail and thing. But because it is a rich kid, it is just pay off. The richer are getting the richer, the poor are getting poorer. Only that I have to say.”
Of course, Aguilar’s absence from the cell does not preclude the possibility that he was being questioned – or coddled - upstairs in the CIB office. Police say that and our witness confirms that he was represented by two attorneys that night. Police as we say maintain that Aguilar was detained 24 hours – which, if true, means that he was still released before the post mortem examination was conducted. The Galvez family claims that it is all part of corrupt cover up.
