Ex-con confesses: ‘Baby-killer innocent’

PHILLIP JONES was a cute two-year-old boy when he was kidnapped from his Point Fortin home in 1980 and stabbed to death. The news shocked the country and there was little mercy for the man, Gayman Jurisingh, who was found guilty and sentenced to death on July 15, 1982. The death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1994 following the Pratt and Morgan judgment. Now 24 years later, an ex-convict (name withheld) has come forward and written a long letter confessing that he was one of the three men who kidnapped and killed the baby. The confession has come to the fore just as lawyers are trying to secure the release of Jurisingh. In an eight-page statement he wrote to Jurisingh at the Carrera Island Prison, the man said he decided to tell the truth in the hope that “an innocent man’s life would not be taken.”

Jurisingh, 44, was sentenced to death by Justice Mustapha Ibrahim at the San Fernando Assizes on July 15, 1982 for the murder of Phillip Jones, son of Dunlop (Trinidad) Limited Manager David Jones, and Joan Jones which occurred on July 11, 1980. He was represented at his trial by Rudolph Martin, while then deputy DPP Occah Seepaul was the prosecutor. Twenty-eight witnesses gave evidence at his trial. Jurisingh was convicted on circumstantial evidence. Having lost his appeals, the death warrant was read to Jurisingh on two occasions in 1992, but on both occasions, the High Court stayed his execution. His death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on January 4, 1994 following the Pratt and Morgan judgment. His commutation is now the focus of a constitutional motion before Justice Ivor Archie in the Port-of-Spain High Court. I went in search of the ex-con at his home in Freeport on Friday. But his estranged common-law wife informed Sunday Newsday that since his release from prison more than a year ago, she had seen very little of him. She identified his signature on the eight-page statement and said she “remembered some things about that matter.”

The ex-con started the statement by writing “because of prompting from my partner in crime and from another of my friends, I decided to write to you which I hope would be of assistance.” The ex-con said that “Rat,” one of the persons involved in killing baby Phillip, attempted to clear the air years ago by writing the President, the media, and then human rights lawyer Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj. But Maharaj said on Thursday he had little knowledge of this matter. The ex-con said that on July 9, 1980, “Acid,” “Rat” and himself were liming at a club when they hatched the plan to kidnap baby Phillip for a ransom of $30,000. “The plan to kidnap Jones’ son and demand a ransom was Rat’s idea because Rat used to work for Jones and Jones fired him for no reason. I don’t know what work Rat used to do for Jones.” He continued, “After we left the bar, we went to our base with another person, Anthony Bridgelal (Lizzard). There we started to draft the ransom note. After several changes the ransom note was finally agreed on. The ransom note was written by Acid and was signed by our group named ‘Black Friday’.” The ex-con said the following day (July 10), he and “Acid” went to the Golf Course at Clifton Hill, Point Fortin where they monitored the movements of the Jones’ family. On July 11, between 4.30 pm and 5 pm, the ex-con said he was left at a rain shelter near the Golf Course while “Acid” went to buy cigarettes and something to drink.

The ex-con saw David Jones, his wife Joan and son Phillip walking along the Golf Course Road. The Jones’ family returned to their house sometime later. The ex-con said “Acid,” “Rat,” and himself went to an abandoned house at Hollywood Junction to talk things over. That abandoned house was chosen as the place to keep baby Phillip. The Freeport man said sometime later, “Acid” and “Rat” came driving in a white Hunter car and they headed to the Clifton Hill beach car park. “Rat” parked the car, while “Acid” and the ex-con headed for the Jones’ house. The ex-con stated, “I went to the side of the fence and Acid went to the front of the house. The gate was wide open and the Jones’ son was close to the open gate. Acid just went and pick him up and placed a wash rag over his mouth and started to walk fast towards the Golf Course. When he reached the Golf Course he started to run to the direction of the car.” He said “Acid” and baby Phillip went in the back seat and they headed straight to the abandoned house. “Acid took him (Phillip) to a room and placed him in a cardboard box with an old blanket inside. We remained there for about 25 minutes. Me and Acid then left Rat to look after Jones’ son. It was his job, my job was to keep watch at Jones’ house and Acid’s job was to keep watch on where the ransom money was to be dropped by Mr Jones.”

The ex-con said “Acid” left to get his motorbike and then to drop the ransom note for Mr Jones. “I reached there about 10 o’clock. I observed there was quite a few people milling in and around the Jones’ house. I noticed a few men in police uniform remained there for about an hour. I came to the conclusion that the Jones’ had called in the police. I left the area and walked back to Point Fortin. I lingered around by the car for about half an hour to see if I could see Acid. I didn’t see him so I took the car and went to our base to let Rat know what was going on. “I told Rat what I saw. He said he would just abandon the whole plan. While we were talking, Acid came in cursing and swearing. He too confirmed that the police were informed because the place where the money was to be dropped by Mr Jones was surrounded by police. “Acid continued to curse and swear he was going to kill that whole family. With his rage, he just pulled out a dagger from his waist and headed straight to the room Jones’ son was in. I saw him stoop next to the box and I saw his hand went up and down inside the box. Me or Rat could not say a word or do anything as he was standing in the doorway with the dagger in his hand.”

The ex-con said “Acid” was still cursing and said he was going to drop baby Phillip’s body on the parents’ door step, and if he got the chance, he was going to kill all of them. The former prisoner said he felt that “Acid” had gone mad, so he left the house. The ex-con said that the following day, he heard on the news that the police had arrested several persons with respect to the disappearance of baby Phillip. “I started to get worried so I left and went by Acid. He wasn’t home so I went by the market and saw both Acid and Rat standing there. Acid and Rat told me not to worry, once I keep a low profile and keep my mouth shut things will be okay. We limed for a while and then we left for the club where I worked.” The ex-con said when he reached the club, his boss told him that “Lizzard” was looking for him. “Lizzard” returned the following day and said he heard about the matter. “On Monday the 14th of July 1980, I heard on the Panorama news on TV that the police had charged Gayman Jurisingh for the kidnap and murder of the Jones’ son. I was a bit relieved but confused and thought it was a kind of set up by the police. It was only when Jurisingh was convicted I realised the police were serious.”

The former Carrera prisoner said they all felt safer with the arrest of Jurisingh for murder. “They (police) would hardly be looking for anything or anybody again. However, it was Acid who warned me and Rat not to say or do anything foolish about the matter because if the police come and lock us up that would be our hard luck.” After Jurisingh was convicted, the ex-con said he felt confused, worried and disturbed about the whole incident. “For the first time I thought they were going to kill Jurisingh. Rat too was always concerned, but Acid never seemed to care, he was high most of the time anyway.” He said after Jurisingh was convicted, “Rat” wrote to then Prime Minister George Chambers and then President Ellis Clarke telling them that Jurisingh was an innocent man. He said “Acid” was killed in an accident while “Rat” went to live elsewhere. “Over the years I used to think about this particular incident because of how it happened and how everything turned out. When the Government read the warrant in November 1992 to execute Jurisingh I was worried and confused until I heard that lawyers stopped the execution. I was happy and for the first time I thought I had to make an effort to assist Jurisingh to prove his innocence. However, I was still worried and did not know exactly how to go about my plan. Moreso, I was now in prison custody.”

The ex-con said that in 1998 he was able to see the then Archbishop Anthony Pantin when he visited Carrera Prison. “I confided in him on this matter and I gave him a copy of a similar statement. He said he would study it and we communicated a couple of times after then he fell sick and went overseas for treatment and then I lost contact with him. The last thing I knew he was dead. I am trying to get in contact with the new Archbishop Edward Gilbert.” The former inmate said he hasn’t seen “Rat” since June 1990 when he brought a get-away car and guns to assist him, “Lizzard,” Derrick King and Sudesh Deyal to enable the group to escape from the Chaguanas Police Station. “Lizzard” and Deyal were killed by police while King was shot dead in San Fernando. The ex-con ended, “I have lots of things to say about other things. I am trying to get an interview with Archbishop Edward Gilbert or the media. I have made this statement of my own free will in the hope that an innocent man’s life would not be taken,” he added. The Jones family left Trinidad after the loss of their child, returned for the trial, and finally settled in England. The kidnap and murder remain one of the most heartless crime in the history of Trinidad and Tobago.