On the eve of the second anniversary of the police killing of three men at Second Caledonia, Morvant comes a major development as investigators have gotten the all-clear from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to arrest as many as 18 officers whose conduct is under investigation.
Police and legal sources confirmed that among the possible charges being looked at are homicide, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and misbehaviour in public office.
There is no indication as to when a special task force, led by Supt Wayne Abbott, appointed by the acting Commissioner of Police to probe the case will carry out their operation to bring in the suspects. Some of the officers were previously questioned and have given statements in the presence of their attorneys at the Homicide Bureau, in Port of Spain.
Investigators have been liaising with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions throughout the probe and even re-enacted the crime scene to help corroborate eye-witnesses’ account. There is also forensic and ballistic evidence to support the police probe that the none of the men fired any weapons that day.
The killings of Joel Jacob, 38, also called Lion, on his birthday, his childhood friend Noel Diamond, 46, and fellow villager Israel Moses Clinton, 27, sparked sporadic protests in several communities across Trinidad on June 27, 2020, and two successive days.
[caption id="attachment_961749" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Sterling Jacob recalls the day his son Joel "Lion" Jacob was shot and killed by police along with his friends Noel Diamond and Israel Moses Clinton in Morvant in June 2020. - AYANNA KINSALE[/caption]
The family, friends, and the community of Second Caledonia will remember the three men during a candlelight vigil on Monday.
In a telephone interview on Saturday, Sterling Jacob said he found “the wheels of justice were turning too slowly.”
“It is two years now come June 27, we have not heard anything positive as to what is happening. We are hurting because our only son was killed innocently. My wife and I are very disturbed. We are going through some rigours of sleepless nights.”
The shooting took place a stone’s throw from the Jacob’s home and a mural painted on the wall of the Auto Guru building last year with images of the three victims, is being upgraded with a digital image more to the likeness of the men in time for the memorial on Monday.
They have to relive the events every day as they drive past or look west from their porch. He said his wife, Carol, was seeking trauma counselling to help her cope.
“It is our only son and to know that these officers just snuff out his life without any purpose, it pains me.”
Jacob said the incident has not made him hate the police since he knew their were “good officers in the service” but he hopes that the incident will help get rid of rogue officers who operate as though they have a licence to kill and will do anything to cover-up their actions.
“It come (the incident) like it was yesterday…knowing he was a l
