Five charged with Zakers’ murder
By Terresa McCall
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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Gregory Anthony Zakers
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BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS - THE police seem to have made a breakthrough in the murder case of Gregory Anthony Zakers with the arrest and charging of five young men said to be from the St. Pauls area.
Clyde ‘Bug’ Norford [25], Jomi ‘Biggie’ Rawlins [19], Nelson ‘Mad One’ Challenger [18], Shenroy ‘Shenny’ Francis [18], and a juvenile were, according to information received by this media house, picked up by police yesterday and have been officially booked in connection with the April 12, 2008 incident.
The arrests come after almost three weeks of investigations during which several persons were “arrested on suspicion of murder” and were said to be “assisting with investigations” but they were not charged.
On Saturday, April 12, 2008, Zakers body was discovered over the cliff side of Black Rocks, Belle Vue by a tourist who was visiting the area. According to reports, the tourist reported the find to a taxi driver who in turn reported it to the police.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that Zakers was killed elsewhere after which his body was transported to the site where it was found. ~~Adz:Right~~
The District Medical Officer was called to the scene and Zakers was officially pronounced dead although the body was not officially identified at that time. Less than 24 hours after the body was found, it was officially identified as that of Zakers.
According to reports reaching SKNVibes, Zakers was not seen by his family since Thursday, April 10, 2008 when he left his Basseterre home bound for the home of a female friend in St. Pauls.
Information released by the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force informs that according to an autopsy performed on Zakers’ remains by Barbadian Pathologist Dr. Stephen Jones, the 20-year-old died as a result of “severe traumatic head injury caused by a blunt object”.
Less than two months prior to his death, Zakers was unanimously acquitted by a seven man/five woman jury of the murder of 16-year-old Josh Smithen of St. Pauls. Smithen was killed on Friday, September 8, 2006 during the opening ceremony of Festival De Capisterre.
Zakers’ murder marks the sixth of eight to have occurred within the Federation for the year; the first one occurred in Nevis while the others took place in St. Kitts.
