RETIRED deputy superintendent of police, Vivian Richards, who was assigned to the Police Public Complaints Authority (PPCA), told the court hearing the Crawle murder case yesterday that on the second occasion in which he interviewed Bashington Douglas, otherwise called “Chen Chen” or “Shortman”, he knew he was wanted by the police for serious crimes.

Richards was continuing his testimony, started Wednesday, in the Home Circuit Court in the trial of Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams and five members of his disbanded Crime Management Unit – Roderick Collier, Devon Bernard, Shane Lyons, Leford Gordon, and Patrick Coke – for the alleged murders of Angella Richards, Kirk Gordon, Matthew James, and Lewina Thompson in Crawle, Clarendon on May 7, 2003.

Richards said he interviewed Chen Chen at his house, located some distance away from the death house.

Two statements were taken, one on June 3, 2003 and the other on June 20, 2003.

Richards said that on the first occasion when he went to Crawle, he had to beat a hasty retreat because of a hostile crowd which had gathered at the scene.

On cross examination, he admitted returning later in the day and carrying out a search. He told the court that two spent shells were found in his first search and four were found on his second search. In the first search the spent shells were found under a bed in one of the rooms of the house, and on his second search outside the house, spent shells were found among dry leaves.

According to Richards, a third search was conducted and a 9mm Luger spent shell was found in a grassy area, some distance away from the house. He said he did not know at the time what type of shell was found, although it was written at the base.

He said it was Lloyd Christie, another member of the PPCA, who advised him what type of shell it was. He said he had no camera, but Christie did.

On cross examination by attorney Valerie Neita-Robertson, attorney for Devon Bernard, Richards said no photos were taken of the shells in the position in which they were found. He also said the doors of the house were not locked.

Richards also admitted that he did not make notes while at the scene, but did so when he returned to his office.

On further cross-examination from Oswest Senior-Smith, attorney for Shane Lyons, Richards admitted that he was not acquainted with M16 weapons or semi-automatic weapons during his time in the police force; his knowledge was limited to .38 shells.

Both Richards and Inspector Duane Wellington of the Bureau of Special Investigation, who was the second witness called by the Crown yesterday, testified that on May 9, when they visited the crime scene (separately) Member of Parliament Pearnel Charles and a group of persons were at the scene.

Inspector Wellington said he was disappointed that the scene was not secured, and he gave instructions to police officials from Clarendon that the scene should be secured.

He told the court that two windows on the verandah of the house had damaged louvre blades, and what appeared to be a pool of blood was outside on the ground near a step which leads onto the verandah.

He also said gunshot impressions could be seen on the ceiling of one of the rooms, on the bottom door of a whirlpool fridge in the living room, and another near where the two doors parted.

He said he found four fragments of bullets during his search.

The trial continues today.