FBI seeking 3 more J’cans insniper probe
ST JOHN’S, Antigua (AP) – The FBI wants to question three Jamaicans in connection with US sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad’s activities in Antigua while living in the Caribbean country between 2000 and 2001, an Antiguan task force said.
Two FBI agents arrived in Antigua nearly two weeks ago to focus on Muhammad’s possible motives for the shootings that left 12 dead in Alabama, Louisiana and the Washington, DC area of the United States. Muhammad, a 41-year-old US Army veteran, met fellow sniper suspect, 17 year-old Jamaican John Lee Malvo, while living in Antigua. They are facing murder charges and the death penalty, if convicted.
One of the three Jamaicans the FBI wants to question is John Edwards, who allegedly used documents supplied by Muhammad to obtain a fake Antiguan passport, said task force head John Fuller on Friday.
The FBI is seeking Edwards because he also applied for a US passport at the US Embassy in Barbados, using a US birth certificate supplied by Muhammad with the name Frederick Jones, Fuller said.
The embassy rejected the application, he said, without providing further details. The FBI also wanted to question Charles Douglas and his daughter, Keshna, who were both former roommates of Muhammad in Antigua, Fuller said.
Muhammad used Charles’ car to drive by the residence of Prime Minister Lester Bird on two occasions, Fuller said. The four-member task force recently determined that Muhammad plotted to kidnap Bird.
“The circumstances there give rise to concern of what this man may have been planning to do,” Fuller said. “We have leads on who the second person in the car with Muhammad was, but we have not as yet been able to locate the person,” he added.
The task force’s dragnet for information also determined that Muhammad illegally acquired an Antiguan passport and that officials were negligent in approving the US citizen’s application.
Keshna Douglas obtained a fake Antiguan passport in the name of Revena Douglas by using the birth certificate of Eva Ferris, who Muhammad said was his Antiguan mother and used a copy of her birth certificate to obtain his fake passport, Fuller said. But Eva Ferris’ family said she was not related to Muhammad.
Charles and Keshna Douglas worked at the King’s Casino in Antigua before migrating to the United States in 2000. Keshna used her fake Antiguan passport to acquire a US visa, and Charles also used a forged document to enter the United States, Fuller said.
Keshna’s last known address was in Jamaica and Charles’ last known address was in Washington, DC, he said.
FBI spokeswoman Michelle Palmer, speaking by telephone yesterday from the bureau’s headquarters in Washington, DC, declined to comment on Fuller’s statements.
The task force is headed by Fuller, an attorney, and also includes attorney Ralph Francis, retired police officer Cosmo Marcelle and a Roman Catholic priest, the Rev Arnold Francis.