Cop says he found 572 M16 spent shells at Keith Clarke’s house
Statements by a scene of crime detective, who is also a forensic photographer, that were read in court on Thursday painted a picture of the scale of the gunfire at the home of 63-year-old accountant Keith Clarke on the night he was shot dead by members of the security forces 14 years ago.
The detective, who went to the house at 18 Kirkland Close in Red Hills, St Andrew, hours after Clarke was killed in the early morning of May 27, 2010, said he found 572 M16 spent shells, one M16 magazine with 30 live rounds, nine 9mm spent shells, five .38 cartridges, six cannisters, and numerous brown stains resembling blood.
“I also swabbed the hand of the deceased, Keith Clarke, for gunpowder residue,” the detective said in one of his written statements.
Clarke was shot more than 20 times, including in his back, by members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF).
Three soldiers
— lance corporals Greg Tingling and Odel Buckley as well as Private Arnold Henry
— are on trial in the Home Circuit Court for murder in relation to Clarke’s death.
The security forces said that when they swooped down on Clarke’s house they were acting on intelligence that led them to believe that then-fugitive Christopher “Dudus” Coke and some of his henchmen were camping out there.
It is alleged that gunmen challenged the security forces in a fierce battle before escaping in bushes at the back of the property.
The accountant was shot dead inside his bedroom after the soldiers forced their way inside.
“The top floor of the house consisted of a sitting room, a study, three bedrooms, and two bathrooms. The front entrance door opens into the sitting room. The top lock of the entrance door was cut by a rotating blade,” the detective said in one of his statements.
“The inside door was cut with a rotating blade to gain access. Both sides of the grille were still attached to the wall. There were panel chairs in the sitting room. The ceiling and interior walls of the sitting room had what appeared to be bullet holes. Concrete dust covered the furniture and the floor of the sitting room. Windows on the eastern wall of the study room had what appeared to be bullet holes. The bedroom of the daughter had no damage on the inside. The door to the master bedroom was broken and was leaning against the eastern passage wall,” he said.
“In the master bedroom, to the eastern side, the body of Keith Clarke was seen on the floor lying face down in a pool of blood. The body was between the bed and a clothes closet and the eastern wall and had what appeared to be several bullet wounds to the back,” the detective stated.
“The head of the deceased was to the north-east and feet to the south-west. To the left of the deceased’s head was an overturned reclining chair with blood splatter. A television set was on the floor to the right side of the foot of the deceased. The bed and the top section of the clothes closet were in disarray. A safe in the top section of the closet had its contents strewn about. A firearm holster was on the bed,” the detective said.
He also said he observed no stain resembling blood or any other marks at the top of the closet where the deceased was.
“I collected eight Red Stripe beer bottles at the scene. These bottles were examined for fingerprints. No fingerprints were found. I also swabbed these bottles for DNA. These swabs were packaged and labelled in accordance with where the bottles were found. I don’t know if any of the JDF [Jamaica Defence Force] troops removed any spent casings when they were leaving the scene,” said the detective.