More than three weeks after businessman Keith Carey was robbed, shot and killed, three additional men, including Mr. Carey’s cousin, were charged in a Magistrate’s Court on Thursday in relation to the crimes.
It brought to five the number of people charged in connection to the matter, which shocked and outraged many residents of New Providence.
Vaughn Carey, 31, of Portland Bay Rest, off Carmichael Road, was charged along with Sean Brown, 28, with conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
During the arraignment, Carey, who was represented by attorneys Roger Gomez Jr. and Jomo Campbell, held his head low and spoke softly when Magistrate Renee McKay spoke to him.
A female who a police officer said was Carey’s girlfriend appeared to be listening attentively during the court proceedings.
Brown was also charged with Keith Carey’s murder.
Both men were denied bail and were not required to enter a plea for the charges. They were remanded to Her Majesty’s Prison.
The men are scheduled to appear in court again on August 23 in relation to the conspiracy to commit armed robbery charge. Brown was also expected to be back in court on September 4 in relation to the murder charge.
Magistrate McKay transferred the matters to another court and said the new magistrate would have to decide whether a date is set for a preliminary hearing, or whether the matters are sent straight to the Supreme Court for trial.
Brown, a resident of McKinney Drive, off Carmichael Road, turned himself into the Great Harbour Cay police station in the Berry Islands on Monday, according to police.
He was the third suspect sought in connection with Mr. Carey’s murder and was scheduled to be arraigned with the two other men taken into custody earlier.
Last week, Dwight Knowles, 22, of Rocky Pine Road, and Jamal Glinton, 24, of Nassau Village, were charged before Magistrate McKay with murder and armed robbery.
On Thursday, the magistrate indicated that Brown was essentially sharing a murder charge with Knowles and Glinton, but was also being charged alone for murder.
Prosecutor, Inspector Bradley Sands, later explained to reporters that the reason for the double charge was that some attorneys argue that three persons cannot be charged with one murder if only one person pulled the trigger.
As a result, he said two separate dockets had to be written up.
Also charged in relation to the crime was Dennis Thompson, 29, of Sandilands Village Road in Carmichael, who pleaded guilty with explanation to harbouring a criminal, namely Sean Brown.
Magistrate McKay accepted the guilty plea and adjourned the matter to March 29. He was also remanded into custody.
Prosecutor Sands indicated that all five men involved in Carey’s murder will be formally arraigned together sometime next week.
Mr. Carey, according to police, was about to make a deposit at the Bank of The Bahamas branch on the Tonique Williams Darling Highway on February 27 when a gunman exited a white Nissan Maxima and shot him.
Police said he collapsed on the steps of the bank and was rushed to hospital, but it wasn’t long before police confirmed that Mr. Carey had died.
Police said that after the shooting, the gunman grabbed Mr. Carey’s deposit bag, which reportedly contained $40,000 in cash and cheques. Court documents indicate that the funds were the property of Esso on the Run Service Station on Carmichael Road, which was one of Mr. Carey’s businesses.
By: Bianca Symonette, The Bahama Journal
