Witness explains how he double crossed gangsters
almost 4 years in Jamaica Observer
The 33 accused on trial for atrocities committed by the St Catherine-based Klansman gang, including alleged leader Andre "Blackman" Bryan, yesterday heard in detail just how a former member double-crossed them, helping investigators get guns and ammunition from their very hands.Witness number one, the second ex-member of the gang to take the stand in the trial which is taking place before Chief Justice Bryan Sykes in the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston, had last week told the court that he, in 2018, while Bryan was behind bars, had approached police investigators to oust the gang.He said initially investigators had disbelieved when he told them that Bryan, who was then incarcerated, had called him from a private number from the confines of the prison. He said while in their presence he received a call from Bryan and put the phone on speaker so they could hear Bryan speaking to him for themselves, at which point they realised he had not lied.The witness, who professes to have been a top tier member of the criminal organisation, told the court how after a conversation including Bryan and another top member of the gang - only so far identified as City Puss - he received instructions to collect a gun which was being held by the accused Ruel Taylor. He said he called a member of the Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigations (CTOC) with whom he was in contact. Prior to collecting the gun, he said, he was also instructed to collect $150,000 from another gang member, Fabian Johnson, otherwise called Crocs, towards the purchase of a firearm.He said after calling the investigator to relay that information he drove to Denham Town to collect the cash where he met his cronies near to a checkpoint manned by army and police personnel "at the top of Denham Town [a]cross from Tivoli"."When I got there, I see Mumma (accused Stephanie Christie) and Crocs in her car sitting down," he told the court. The witness said he went across to the car and spoke with them, telling them 'Mi deh inna haste so give mi di money so I can leave'." He said they, however, told him they were going to buy gas and that he should drive with them to the petrol station. The witness said he followed them reluctantly but did not enter the gas station with them. Instead, he parked outside and dropped his seat back while all the time watching them in the gas station.He said he did so because he did not trust Christie and felt she might be "up to something" and might call men to "shoot mi up in the car".He said after seeing them purchase the gas he drove off, telling them he would wait on them in Denham Town. He said he did this because he knew the soldiers were at the checkpoint.He told the court that after he had gone there Christie drove up cursing him. He said she also sought to find out where he was going to get the gun to buy and he told her he had found a seller in Rockfort.He said, when she asked to be allowed to follow him there, he told her, "The person say I must come alone."He said he took the money and drove off but instead of heading to Rockfort, he went to Portmore where he picked up a CTOC investigator. He said the investigator then called two other CTOC officers who met them on the way to Spanish Town.He said he allowed the CTOC investigator to drive his car to to a yard on Jones Avenue which was part of the gang's stomping ground. Once there he said the accused Roel Taylor entered that yard through a fence carrying a gun "in a black scandal bag". He said Taylor handed him the weapon, telling him not to move as another individual was coming with the "corn" [bullets].The witness said he introduced the investigator who was with him to the unsuspecting gangster as his uncle."Same time Pappa come through a next fence with the ammunition in a small soda bottle. Pappa go to the driver side and I told him 'This is my uncle'... he hand (undercover investigator) the shots and he passed it over to me. He [then] tell [investigator] to take care of me because they don't want anything to happen to me, because at the time they think I was wanted by the police," the witness said.He said after leaving Jones Avenue, the investigator met up with his other colleagues and went their way and he returned to the hotel at which he was staying at the time.He told the court that this was the second time he was handing over a gun to the CTOC investigator.The first instance, he said, was in 2019 when Bryan had a gun he said he wanted fixed.He said normally the accused Dwyane Salmon, otherwise called Chemist, would be the one to fix the guns but that time Chemist had refused to come to Spanish Town because it was under a state of emergency."I asked Blackman permission to take the gun to Chemist and he give me permission," the witness. He said when he collected the gun, which was wrapped in a sheet and placed in the trunk of his car, he called the CTOC investigator who told him to meet him in Portmore. He said he turned the gun over there.The witness continues his testimony this morning at 10:00.