Two charged in double murder probe

~~Adz:Right~~ HAMILTON, Bermuda-TWO men, including one teenager, were charged last week in relation to the gruesome murders of two homeless men, Maxwell Brangman and Frederick Gilbert, which took place on September 21.

Roger Eugene Lightbourne Sr., 40, and Darronte Lavar Dill, 18, appeared before Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner, though neither man was required to enter a plea at that time. The case will ultimately be dealt with by the Supreme Court.

Lightbourne was the first of the two men charged after being held by the police for questioning in connection with Brangman’s death.

Brangman’s corpse was found on fire in a concrete hut near the Black Horse Tavern at Burcher’s Point, St. David - the same town in which Lightbourne lives, after firefighters were called to extinguish a blaze.
Autopsy reports later revealed that Brangman died from several wounds to the head and body, including knife wounds, before being set on fire.

While Lightbourne was not held in connection with Gilbert’s death, detectives working the case said that they believed it was a “double homicide” due to similarities in the murders.

Gilbert, who was also homeless and living in St. David, was found floating in Great Bay at 8:45 a.m. on September 22. As in Brangman’s death, the coroner’s report revealed that Gilbert had suffered stab wounds to the head and body before being put in the water.

The day after Lightbourne was remanded into custody, Dill was charged in connection with the case. The double murder is said to have taken place just three days before his eighteenth birthday. 

Family and friends of the deceased men attended both hearings and stated their satisfaction when neither man was granted bail.

According to The Royal Gazette of Bermuda, “A third man who was detained over the murders was bailed without charge on [October 1]”. A fourth man is said to have been held for questioning in the case, though no charges have been filed at this time.

Both Lightbourne and Dill are scheduled to appear in the Magistrate’s Court again on Wednesday, October 8 for an administrative hearing.