TWO brothers — Eddie Fraser and George Fraser — on a sultry night in August 1968 decided, along with other young men like themselves, to grab the money bag of a Kingston coconut vendor and flee into mysterious darkness with it.

That act, the brothers discovered later, was to shatter their lives forever because both found themselves before the Number 1 Home Circuit Court charged with the gun-slaying of Othneil Brown, coconut vendor of 26 Stephen Street, Kingston 12. Brown was shot dead at the corner of Heywood Street and Rose Lane on the night of August 23, 1968.

Justice Uriah Parnell passed the sentence of death upon Eddie Fraser, 22, apprentice radio technician of 69 Pink Lane, Kingston, after he was convicted by a mixed jury on May 30, 1969, for Brown’s murder. Then, all his appeals having failed, he was hanged on the gallows of the St Catherine District Prison at 8:30 am on Tuesday, January 19, 1971.

Asked if he had anything to say before the sentence was passed on him, Eddie Fraser said: “I am innocent.”

Fortune favoured his brother, George, however, for the mixed jury returned a verdict of guilty of manslaughter in his case.

The trial having ended on Friday, sentence on 18-year-old George Fraser of 13 Pink Lane in Kingston was deferred until the following Monday morning when his attorney, Gloria Thompson, made a stirring plea for leniency on his behalf.

After listening to the plea, the trial judge commented that there was plenty of evidence in the case about which, had the jury taken a certain view, the accused would also have been convicted of murder.

He went on: “According to this evidence, this man, Brown, 29 years old, a Jamaican like yourself, trying to earn an honest bread; at Heywood Street and Rose Lane, selling coconuts; apparently he did not have any skill, like many Jamaicans. So, at midnight he is there trying to earn a bread; in cold blood he is shot down and robbed with a gun… a gun that was found in your possession. And what is more, you were there egging on Eddie Fraser.

“As far as you are concerned, the jury said you were engaged in an unlawful act involving violence, resulting in the death of this man. I am told you were being used as a tool or as a pawn. This is an argument that could be put up in any case where any young man like you is concerned. I am also told that your mother is away and you did not get any chance in life; you did not get any guidance.

“This is an argument that could be put up for thousands of Jamaicans. But I know thousands who did not get any chance in the sense that they did not get much guidance at home, but nevertheless they fought back, behaved themselves and some are doing well in the country — men and women.

“What we are lacking in Jamaica today is strong discipline. I may be old-fashioned, but that is what I have been brought up on; but the young boys and girls of today decide to take charge of the country and do it their way. They get their guns and knives and walk about and terrorise people, shooting and killing, and when they come before the court and are convicted, their youth is urged as strong ground for dealing leniently with them.

“As far as this case is concerned, I can see no ground why I should not pass a salutary sentence on you. This man’s life was snuffed out in a jiffy while you and the other man were pursuing your wrong. You had a chance.

“Your papers were being processed for you to go to England. While it was being done, you did this act with this man. Whether what I have said is going to mean anything to you or not, I do not know, but the sentence of the court is that you be imprisoned and kept at hard labour for 12 years.”

The judge said he would recommend that Fraser serve his term in the young persons’ section of the prison and, if possible, that he be taught a trade.

The Crown’s case was that on the night of August 23, 1968, Brown was gunned down at the corner of Heywood Street and Rose Lane in Kingston after he pursued a man who had grabbed his money bag. Prosecution witnesses gave evidence that George Fraser was the man who grabbed Brown’s money bag and as Brown pursued him, he was shot by Eddie Fraser, who was defended by Maurice Tenn and Dr Adolph Edwards.

Crown Counsel R O C White and Raymond Alexander led evidence for the prosecution.

At the trial, a witness, Delores Thomas, dressmaker, told the court that she was standing at the gate of 19 Rose Lane on the night of the incident when she heard an explosion. She said she saw the accused, George Fraser, whom she knew as ‘Danny’, running up Rose Lane and behind him she saw two men whom she did not know.

The witness said she saw a gun in Danny’s left hand and a cap in his right hand. She said Danny was running from the direction of Heywood Street. Thomas told the court that she had a boyfriend named Bobsie. She did not know his correct name. Later that same night she said she saw Danny at 9 Nelson Street.

Cross-examined by Tenn, Thomas said Bobsie had not been her boyfriend for a long time. She said she knew Mass Boyd, who was also her boyfriend; she had been waiting for Mass Boyd at 19 Rose Lane on the night

in question.

She further said she knew Chocomo Lawn and had been there twice but she never saw George Fraser there. She did not know Aston Young, neither did she know Harvey Reid nor Raymond Boucher.

Thomas said she slept at 9 Nelson Street that night. There she saw Danny come into Bobsie’s room with a box of chicken and a bottle of beer. She did not see him with any gun then or the cap. Danny, she told the court, did not speak to her although she was in the room. She said he slept there that night.

Det Acting Corporal Charles Morrison of the Denham Town CID testified that on Sunday, August 25, 1968, about 6:15 pm, Cladius Massop (reputed Tivoli Gardens strongman, now deceased) brought a .32 automatic pistol to him at the station. It was loaded with one bullet. On August 29, he (Morrison) gave the gun to Constable Lindsay.

Det Morrison said that on Tuesday, August 27 he went in search of George Fraser. He returned to the station and saw him and told him of his mission. Fraser said he did not know about the killing. He denied going to a dance hall with Eddie Fraser on the night of the murder.

George Fraser also said that the day after the murder, about 12:30 am, he did not run up Rose Lane with a gun in his hand. On the night of the murder he stated that he went with ‘Peelhead’ (Aston Young) to his girlfriend at Young Street. He left Young and was walking up Rose Lane when he heard a gunshot.

Continuing his evidence, the detective told the court that George said he ran and saw Eddie Fraser running behind him. Every corner he took, according to him, Eddie followed him until he reached North Street. George Fraser told him that when he woke up the following morning, he heard that a man got shot.

On September 8, 1968 at 5:30 am the detective gave an account of going to Eddie Fraser’s home where he said he told him of his mission. Eddie Fraser denied knowledge of the incident. The witness took the accused to the station and Eddie Fraser said he was not at the dance hall with Danny on the Friday night of the murder.

Eddie Fraser told him also that on the night of the killing he was at Pink Lane and Percy Street when the Burry Boys ran him off the street. He went to his bed at 10:00 pm.

The detective said he arrested Aston Young and charged him with murder and robbery with aggravation. He subsequently arrested Danny on warrants and charged him with murder and robbery with aggravation. Det Morrison said that six people were arrested but only three were arrested by him and charged in connection with the death of Othneil Brown.

Dr Noel March, government pathologist, gave evidence of performing a post-mortem on the body of Brown on August 28, 1968 and he told the court of

his findings.

Claudius Massop told the court that on August 25, 1968, he was on Beeston Street in Kingston when he saw George Fraser, whom he knew as Danny, and a fellow named Keith. He said he saw Danny with a gun and he took the gun away. While going west on Beeston Street, Massop told the court that he saw Det Morrison and he handed the gun to him. The gun in court, said the witness, resembled the gun he took away from Danny. The witness admitted that he (Massop) had previously been convicted for perjury.

It was suggested to the witness by Miss Thompson, counsel for George Fraser, that he did not take away the gun but that it was Danny who had given it to him, but the witness said that was not so.

Constable Lloyd Lindsay of Denham Town Police CID, told the court that on August 24, 1968, about 1:30 am, he received a telephone message as a result of which he went to Heywood Street and Rose Lane. He said he saw Julius Vassell who told him something, as a result of which he (Lindsay) went to the Kingston Public Hospital.

On August 28, Lindsay said, he attended a post-mortem on the body of Brown carried out by Dr Noel March and the body was identified by Ionie Eldemire. Lindsay told of handing over to the government pathologist the clothes of the deceased and subsequently he said he took the gun and cartridges in court to the ballistics expert, Jack Morris.

Cross-examined by attorney Tenn, the witness said he had arrested John Graham and Harvey Reid in connection with the same murder. He said that five people in all had been arrested for the murder. In reply to the judge, the witness said that three of those arrested were discharged at the

preliminary enquiry.

The witness said he saw George Fraser at the Denham Town Police Station on August 27, about half-an-hour after he had arrested Graham and Reid. The next time he saw George Fraser was at the Richmond

Police Station.

Tenn submitted that Jack Morris, who was called to testify at the trial, should not have been, because he was not called at the preliminary inquiry. According to Tenn, the mere fact that the witness lived abroad did not make his evidence unavailable within the meaning of the law because in such a case either the Crown or the defence or the enquiring magistrate could ask for the adjournment of the inquiry so that the witness resident abroad could attend court on a different date and at a time convenient to the inquiry.

Mr Justice Parnell, without calling on the Crown, ruled that once the prosecution has given notice of intention to adduce additional evidence at the circuit court trial, that evidence was admissible and Morris was invited to take the witness stand.

Examined by Crown Counsel White, the witness said he was employed to the Government of Jamaica as a ballistics expert. On August 29, 1968, he said, he received from Constable Lindsay some sealed containers with one 9mm Browning semi-automatic pistol number 568614 and one .32 calibre un-extended cartridge that was still in the clip and one .380 calibre copper jacketed bullet. The nose of the bullet, said the witness, was slightly deformed. He identified the articles. Morris said he made certain tests and came to the conclusion that the pistol in court fired the

deformed bullet.

The witness, in reply to questions, outlined the various institutions in which he gained his experience and said he based his opinion on bullets in his possession which were fired by him from the pistol in court.

In an unsworn statement from the dock, Eddie Fraser, in his defence, told the court that on the night in question he went to a dance with his girlfriend and after leaving the dance they went to bed. He said he did not hold up anyone and he did not fire any gun.

George Fraser, also in an unsworn statement from the dock, said he knew nothing about the charge.

The case lasted all week and following the judge’s summing up, the jury retired for about half-an-hour and returned with a unanimous verdict in respect of each accused.

Next week: The murder trial of Frank Robinson, et al convicted and sentenced to death for murdering Mussington Reid.

Sybil E Hibbert is a veteran journalist and retired court reporting specialist. She is also the wife of Retired ACP Isadore ‘Dick’ Hibbert, rated among the top Jamaican detectives of his time.