The remains of Grand Bahama’s “missing boys are now back in the possession of local police and they are ready to proceed in the matter which grabbed international attention two years ago, a senior police officer said on Tuesday.
Cordell Farrington, a New Providence native, was charged in October 2003 with killing four of the five missing boys as well as his best friend, Jamaal Robbins.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Reginald Ferguson said the forensic testing was recently completed at an American lab and police officials are now waiting on prosecutors in the Attorney General’s Office to secure a court date.
But he could not say when the boys’ remains would be turned over for burial.
“We have not arrived at that point yet and that’s dependent on what the attorney general, the prosecutor, and court will determine on these matters in the future,” Mr. Ferguson said.
The families have been waiting on word from authorities on when the boys’ remains would be released since police confirmed that the missing youngsters were murdered.
Jake Grant, Mackinson Colas, DeAngelo McKenzie, Junior Reme and Desmond Rolle went missing between May and September of 2003.
“It’s been two years [so] they should bring up those cases and let us get on with our lives, Marilyn Davis, DeAngelo’s mother, said in an earlier interview with The Bahama Journal.
One month after the last boy disappeared, Farrington reportedly turned himself into police and was later arraigned on five murder counts.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade revealed prior to Farrington’s arraignment that his alleged victims’ remains had been uncovered in remote areas of East Grand Bahama.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force continues to be burdened by high costs associated with forensic testing and in this case has had to wait two years for results.
Recently, Commissioner of Police Paul Farquharson spoke about the financial burden associated with such tests and informed that the police force recently finanlised a deal with a foreign company to carry out such tests at considerably reduced prices.
“The courts are demanding more and more [that we don’t] rely only on a confession or a witness statement,” he noted. “You must have scientific evidence in order to convict a person.”
Mr. Farquharson pointed out that local police do not yet have the capability to analyze DNA evidence, although the force has trained personnel.
He said it is extremely expensive as each test costs $3,000, but through a new contract with a US firm, the police expect to be able to spend $1,000 on each test.
Mr. Farquharson said this $1,000 is “very reasonable”.
“We’re looking at a number of cases and very soon we hope that the resources would be made available in order to run our tests,” he said.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
