|
Rebecca,
17, from Belleville, Ontario, was found raped, tortured and stabbed to death on
July 3, 1996, in Ferry Reach. She
and her friend Jasmine Meens had been staying in Bermuda on holiday with
Jasmine's father, Rick, and had been to Harbour Nights in St. George's the night
she was killed.
A
few days after her death, two males were arrested and subsequently charged in
connection with her death, despite detectives having no DNA test results.
Even initial tests carried out by the Government analyst turned out to be
wrong just two days after the suspects had first appeared in court.
Justis
Smith was accused of premeditated murder, and Mundy of the lesser charge after
he admitted only having consensual sex, with a condom, with Rebecca. Instead, he
pointed the finger at Smith. He
claimed that after sex he went to clean himself in the sea nearby and when he
came back Rebecca was dead.
Acting
Assistant Police Commissioner Victor Richmond, who had overall charge of the
Middleton case at the time, admitted at the inquiry that the charges were
brought largely on the strength of Mundy's statement alone.
However,
some months after the murder, experts ruled that semen found in Rebecca's vagina
belonged to Mundy and that it was most likely that two people had been
responsible for the teenager's death, one to hold her down, while the other
inflicted the torture wounds.
When
detectives tried to change Mundy's charge, they were told they were unable to.
He received a five-year sentence for his part in her death.
Smith
was acquitted after Puisne Judge Vincent Meerabux deemed there to be
insufficient evidence, a decision later described as "astonishing" by
the Privy Council. As a result, nobody has ever been convicted of the murder of
Rebecca.
Legally
only the Attorney General or the prosecutors can decide what charges a defendant
faces in serious indictable offences.
The
teenager's family have repeatedly called for an inquiry into the botched
investigation and the failed prosecution, demanding to know why no one has been
brought to justice for the death of their daughter, and why Mundy was charged
only with being an accessory, when detectives did not have all the facts.
The
bungled investigation was the catalyst for The Commission of Inquiry into
serious crime on the Island, but the commissioners have no mandate to study in
depth any particular case. |
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
|
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
Bermuda.org.uk has taken reasonable care in sourcing
and presenting the information contained on this site, but accepts no
responsibility for any financial or other loss or damage that may result from
its use. Bermuda.org.uk is not an official or authorised
Bermuda police web site.
|