December 28th 2009 – that’s when we first heard Yolanda Schakron make the allegation that a policeman killed her nephew Chris Galvez. That same police man – also threatened the Galvez family. Since then, a man claiming to be a witness to the December 22nd killing visited the Galvez family – telling them that he saw the police man do it. Well, actually, he told them that after – at first, he told them he saw a Honduran dread do it. But still, he’s committed to seeing the police corporal do it in a sworn statement. That’s what is presently before the DPP and that’s why she has instructed police to go and re-interview as many as nine other witnesses who were at the scene who said in previous statements that they saw no such thing.
Though all this talk about a police-man we didn’t report the name – because while he has been accused by the family – he has not been detained for questioning or charged. But the rules of disclosure changed last week Friday when the Reporter newspaper printed his name. That still wasn’t enough to make us broadcast it but it did force his father and brother to go public by visiting our studios to say that Darrell “Tutsi” Usher did not kill Christopher Galvez. They told us that and answered questions about what Usher was doing as the first man at the scene of the crime.
Gilroy Usher Jr., Brother of Accused
“The Reporter and Mrs. Schakron actually made such a bold step such as to call this young man’s name when quite frankly no evidence at the crime scene points to our brother in an indictable way as to say in anyway that he committed this murder. We have been subject to various types of scrutiny about this thing. On my way to school at UB, on my little sister’s way to school at UB, at our business places, at our homes, when we visit family and friends we constantly hear our brother’s name being implicated in this thing and we know to ourselves, and like I said the evidence indicates that he had absolutely nothing to do with it in terms of a murder. He was a merely witness right after the incident occurred. But as to say having anything to do with it, he had nothing to do with it so we believe these people have no basis and it is completely unfair and unconstitutional for them to have mentioned his name like that and for Miss Schakron to have constantly been campaigning over the airwaves that he is the guilty person in this case.”
Jules Vasquez,
“While you can vouch for your lil brother, you do it on instinct because
in your mind you know he wouldn’t do something like that but nobody really knows what someone else does. You weren’t there.”
Gilroy Usher Jr.,
“Obviously indeed we are acting on instinct but instinct isn’t the only thing that we are acting on, we are acting on facts. Several reports have been given and none of the reports that have been given by any of the witnesses at the crime scene initially implicated my little brother in anything. He himself gave two reports, one to the Police Department and one to the Commission of Inquiry team. People of bright minds and that are well capable of investigating have already looked at all these reports and nobody came back and said look, this young man is guilty of anything. So it is not just instinct, we are going on fact that several reports have been given and in none he has been implicated, none of the initial reports he has been implicated in.”
Jules Vasquez,
“They do have a young man who claims to be a witness, he said Chris called him there because he sensed some impending danger, and that witness, I’ve seen his statement, his second statement, and in the second statement he says he saw your son, your brother, pull the trigger and shoot Chris.”
Gilroy Usher Jr.,
“In my opinion the witness story is bizarre and I believe that somebody is paying the witness. I don’t know who but I believe someone is paying the witness. First and foremost if you are a witness to something and I have a friend and a friend called me and says look, my life is in danger, if Chris called him and told him my life is in danger then why didn’t he call the police because he knows what is happening, the man says my life is in danger. So why didn’t he call a member of the Galvez family, why didn’t he take some other friends with him to the crime scene to assist Chris? Why
go there by yourself, that makes absolutely no sense to me.”
Jules Vasquez,
“There are two things that are hard to get around, one he happened to be at the scene. Weird, this happened on a week night, 8 to 9 in the night. Two, the day after the murder and a subsequent day thereafter the family alleges and they have witnesses, Mr. Sinquest they say saw the first encounter, when he came to their house and shouted at people in the house, ‘unu Galvez nuh accuse me of murdering your son.’ They claim he took out a gun.”
Gilroy Usher Jr.,
“Well on the first question Jules as to how he happened upon the scene.”
Gilroy Usher Sr., Father of Accused
“We live at Faber’s Road so when my son comes from Hattieville at times he would come off the bus and walk home to our house which is two blocks away.”
Gilroy Usher Jr.,
“Precisely that is what was happening that night. He was on his way from Hattieville to our house because his vehicle like two to three weeks ago had crashed so he had no vehicle. So when he came down from Hattieville and he wanted to come to the city to do any business or visit friends on his day or socialize or whatever he would come and borrow my dad’s vehicle or he would come and borrow my vehicle. That night it so happened that he came down, he stopped off at the junction, was proceeding to our house to borrow either vehicle and when what supposedly occurred, occurred. But that is what he was doing in the area at that particular time on his way to our house.
The fact that the Galvez people are saying that he visited their premises, I think that also he gave two reports again. He is denying visiting their premises. He is saying he went because they were accusing him of the murder and he knows he did not commit the murder. What we are disagreeing with what Mrs. Schakron said is that my little brother pulled out a gun. Everybody in that area knows my little brother by his name Tutsi, everyone in that area knows he is a police officer, everybody in that area knows him very well. That fish market is very crowded, you have some people over the other side who sell chicharon that is very crowded, a bus stop is right there. The question I have for Miss Schakron is how comes with I would presume almost a hundred people in that vicinity, how come only they saw a gun because to this day they are the only people that I am hearing with that story that my brother pulled out a gun. He is not disputing going there but he is saying adamantly that he did not pull out a gun and nobody else in the area is saying he pulled out a gun. And if that had been the case, many people would have been like, ‘what Tutsi gaan by Galvez and pulled out a gun.’ Nobody saw that. Home comes nobody saw that? How come only they see that and the place is so crowded.”
Gilroy Usher Sr.,
“The police cannot determine whether to charge someone or not to charge
someone totally on the basis of hearsay because in relation to the Galvez murder and other murders in the city you hear all sort of things, you hear all sort of theories as to why things are done and how they are done but it is not fair to accuse someone of a crime on the basis of gossip and particularly calling that person’s name on the basis of gossip as though there is some fact to back it up.”
Jules Vasquez,
“Let’s be honest as fathers, there is not anything to make you say, even if somehow and I don’t want this happen and it doesn’t appear that it will but if somehow they say your son will be charged for murder, is there anything that would ever make you believe your son killed Chris Galvez?”
Gilroy Usher Sr.,
“I am convinced that my son just happened to be at that scene at the moment. The crime was being committed and he so happen to arrive on the scene. I am 100% convinced that my son did not commit the crime however as a law abiding citizen if it is taken to court then I would have to respect the decision of the court. I am prepared to respect the decision of the court, not gossip.”
Gilroy Usher Jr.,
“The death of Christopher Galvez is tragic. It is indeed tragic, it leaves a pain that no family member, no father, no sister should endure and out rightly Jules I think the case of Chris will be solved and I think it should be solved but let’s keep in mind that in the pursuit of justice for Chris no innocent person’s reputation should be dragged through the mud.”
But one thing that does not appear to be in dispute between the parties is the license plate on the Toyota Land Cruiser that Andre Aguilar was driving. As you can see those were removed at the scene of the crime – that’s because – according to reports – after Galvez was killed Aguilar – his friend who took him to the boatyard screwed them off. The Galvez family claims he did so with the approval of Usher who was the first police officer on the scene and for them that proves criminal collusion. As we understand it, the Usher’s position is that Aguilar allegedly told the Corporal he wanted to remove it for his own safety because – get this - the media would be taping the scene and the men who killed Galvez would see the footage, record the license plate and then track down the owner...and, you know the rest. Both sides seem to agree that Corporal Usher is the one who gave the approval for the plates to be removed – not hidden as they subsequently were. The Usher’s claim he did it in the presence and in consultation with other police officers who had arrived at the scene.
