Detectives revisit scene where Webster was killed

Detectives investigating the death of Special Olympics athlete Solomon Webster carried out a “walk through” at the crime scene on Sunday, exactly one week after the shooting. 

Officers knocked on doors and handed out leaflets to motorists and passers-by in the West Bay neighborhood where Mr. Webster was shot at around 8:30 p.m. Sept. 7. 

The 24-year-old, a gold medal winner in the regional Special Olympics in Puerto Rico in 2010, died in hospital later the same night.  

Graffiti bearing the name of neighborhood gang Logwoods adorned the wall of a ramshackle wooden building at the entrance to Miss Daisy Lane, where the incident took place, though police have said there is no evidence to suggest the crime was gang related.  

Two men have appeared in court in connection with the crime. Jose Guadelupe Sanchez, 27, was in Summary Court on Monday morning to face a charge of murder. Graham David Lauer, 60, was charged on Friday with being an accessory after the fact of murder.  

The senior investigating officer, Inspector Collins Oremule, said the investigation did not stop even as charges had been brought. 

Speaking from the crime scene on Sunday, he said police would do everything in their power to get justice for the family of Mr. Webster, a graduate of the Lighthouse School who competed for Cayman in bocce and was also a keen footballer and basketball player. 

“When we arrest people for a crime, the investigation doesn’t stop right there. We still have a lot of work to do to make sure we get all the documentation put together properly and sent to the DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions] office. We are also appealing to witnesses or people who might have crucial information for us,” the inspector said. 

The scene around Miss Daisy Lane on Sunday was quiet; a handful of young men passed by on bikes, an older man was wandering in the street, occasionally shouting incoherently. In a small unkempt field amid the houses, a cow was tethered to a tree. Close by on Watercourse Road, several people were hanging out in front of shops and homes, while cars and bikes frequently passed through.  

Inspector Oremule said the objective was to talk to people who may not have been picked up by earlier door-to-door inquiries. 

“It is crucial to do a walk-through at the same time as the incident. There might be people who were there at the time, and there is a possibility that they might come back the week after – people that hang out there, that you are not able to speak to at the time,” he said. 

He said the purpose of handing out leaflets was to give people who did not want to be seen talking to the police another option to get in touch and provide information. 

The leaflet gave brief details of the incident and numbers for people to contact. It states, “If you do not wish to be seen by police at your home, then arrangements can be made to meet you at a time or place to suit you.”  

Inspector Oremule, speaking Monday, said the exercise had proved worthwhile.  

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service major incident room on 926-3975, or Crime Stoppers anonymously on 800-8477.