BASSETERRE – FOUR years after ex-policeman and popular businessman Hubert Phipps was murdered, police have made a breakthrough in the case with the arrest of two young men.
A police press release issued yesterday (July 6) indicates that 24-year-old Amal Whyte of Trafalgar Village and 26-year-old Devon ‘Patches’ Fyfield of Wades Garden were officially arrested and charged on Friday, July 3, 2009 with Phipps’ murder.
On the morning of June 24, 2005, Phipps’ lifeless body was discovered in his Wades Garden home and an autopsy later revealed that he died as a result of suffocation.
Shortly after the murder occurred, then Commissioner of Police, Robert Jeffers explained that the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) would be enlisted. In April 2006, while speaking on a local radio talk show, Jeffers told the nation that he had received “an interim report” from the FBI “on the forensic analysis of the Phipps murder”. He said, based on the evidence gathered up until then, “we can charge persons with that”.
In an exclusive interview with SKNVibes, Press and Public Relations Officer for the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force (RSCNPF), Inspector Cromwell Henry explained that the police were unfaltering in their efforts to solve the four-year-old case.
“The police were determined to solve this murder and sought assistance from the FBI. They came in, processed the scene and removed certain items for forensic examination. The results of these examinations provided the basis for the arrest of the two men.”
He also explained that the police force had no control over the length of time taken to crack the case as the processing of forensic evidence and consultations with the FBI played a major role in determining the arrests.
“We had no control over the length of time it took. I cannot say when the report was received, but there were further consultations and review of other evidence with the FBI before the decision to arrest was made.”
Phipps was the owner of Trade Link which was located on the Bay Road. He was reportedly a member of the St. Vincent Police Force and last served at that institution as the Deputy Commissioner. He was also a member of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force and had attained the rank of Superintendent when he decided to leave that institution between 1979 and 1980.
The press release explains that both accused men are currently serving prison sentences. Whyte was convicted of attempted murder while Fyfield was convicted of house breaking and larceny.
