BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – JUST days after charging Alpha ‘Raga’ Duporte with the shooting death of 24-year-old Dexter Marsham, the Royal St. Christopher-Nevis Police Force has arrested another young man for the same crime.

A release issued yesterday (Jan. 7) from the Police Press and Public Relations Office indicated that 19-year-old Curtlee Rogers of Parsons Village was arrested and charged at the Sandy Point Police Station on Monday (Jan. 4) for Marsham’s July 18, 2009 murder.

Rogers was initially charged on July 24 of that year, but according to Police PRO Inspector Vaughan Henderson, he was remanded to Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP) and remained there for three months before the charge was withdrawn prior to the hearing of a preliminary inquiry (PI).

Henderson explained the process behind the withdrawal of criminal charges, and emphasised that the police had not done anything wrong in re-charging Rogers.

“Once a PI is conducted and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) determines the case cannot go to trial, that person cannot be charged again for that same offence even if new evidence comes to light,” he noted. “ I assume that when the DPP withdrew the charges last year, it was because there was insufficient evidence.

“Because a PI was not done the last time, the police were free to bring murder charges again on Rogers.”

Rogers is now jointly charged with Alpha ‘Raga’ Duporte of Godwin Ghaut, who was captured in Parsons on Sunday (Jan. 3) by members of the Anti-Gang and Special Services Units after eluding arrest for almost six months.

Both men were also charged with possession of cannabis earlier this week.

On July 18, 2009, SKNVibes learnt that a man was shot to death in Godwin Ghaut, and on arrival on the scene at about 3:00 p.m., crowds of villagers were seen lining the Island Main Road as they observed the lifeless body of Dexter ‘Asbal’ Marsham, 24.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that a number of unknown and unmasked assailants opened fire on Marsham following a brief altercation. The report further stated that the assailants fled the scene immediately after the attack. 

SKNVibes was reliably informed that the Marsham suffered six to eight fatal gunshot wounds to the head, chest and stomach. 

Investigations are continuing in the matter, which marked the Federation’s 15th murder in a record-breaking year that saw 27 persons killed, the majority of which remains unsolved.