The evening of Friday, 11 Oct., 2013 started out the same as any other night on the town for Anthony James Connor. However, within hours of hanging out at popular watering hole the Mango Tree, the 32-year-old’s life was cut short at the hands of a unknown gunman.
In this month’s Cayman Compass Cold Cases series, in partnership with the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, we look at the events leading up to the final hours of Connor’s life and the mystery surrounding his 2013 murder.
Detective Sergeant Peter Dean and the RCIPS Serious Crime Review team are leading the inquiry into Connor’s case – codenamed ‘Devario’.
Speaking with the Cayman Compass recently, Dean noted the murder seemed to have been a pre-planned ambush as Connor, also known as Bennie, was apparently stalked by his killer.
“He was shot and killed on the 11th of October, 2013, in the car park of the Mango Tree restaurant. At the time, of course, that was a Friday evening, [it was a] vibrant place, quite busy, lots of cars in the car park, and he had been there for quite a while with at least one other person,” Dean said.
Arranged meeting ends in murder
Connor, he said, arranged to go to the car park to meet a friend.
“As he approached his friend’s car, an unknown assailant, [who] we believe to be a lone assailant, [came] out of the shadows… and fired several shots, one of which hit Anthony in the chest. He was subsequently transported to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead,” Dean said.
Connor’s autopsy showed the cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the chest from a .38 caliber gun.
Dean said that weapon was never recovered and he believes it may likely still be in the Cayman Islands, although he added it has not been connected to any other crimes.
Connor’s death followed two other deadly shootings on Grand Cayman within weeks of each other.
On 3 Oct., 22-year-old Earl Hart, a witness in an earlier murder trial, was fatally shot in his home in Prospect. Then on 15 Sept., Irvin Garlon Bush, 52, was killed outside his home in West Bay in what was believed to be a gang-related shooting.
No connections were formally established between the three cases, and the shootings left the community rattled.
Dean said Connor had recently been released from prison when he was gunned down.
“He did have quite an extensive criminal record, and we are quite content that he was the target and the gunman was specific in wanting to harm Anthony Connor,” Dean said of the night of the murder, as Connor was seen on CCTV footage walking into the car park with two others.
In the footage, which was shown during a coroner’s inquest last year, Connor was seen leaving the bar with his girlfriend and an unidentified man.
From reports, the shooting was not caught on camera.
Instead, the shadow of the assumed killer could be seen, raising and lowering his hand at the exact time that Connor was shot.
Investigators, Dean said, have not been able to identify any particular motive as to why he was killed, “but we do believe it is to do with his criminal activities and background”.
Call for mystery man, witnesses to come forward
Connor had problems with quite a few criminal gangs within the area in 2013, and several people were interviewed as suspects, Dean said.
“Numerous people were interviewed as significant witnesses, but at the end of the day, no one has ever been charged with the death of Anthony Connor,” he said.
The RCIPS needs the public’s help in the case, particularly to locate an important witness from that night, he added.
That man, he said, was dark-skinned, quite slim, and wearing a light-coloured short-sleeved shirt and knee-length plaid pants, which were “quite distinctive”.
“That person was never identified. He left the area, we believe, on a bicycle and we’ve never been able to identify who that man is. So if anybody who was there who can remember and recognise… this person, or if the person himself actually sees this appeal, we ask them to please come forward and let us know. He’s a witness,” Dean said.
Anyone with information relating to Anthony Connor’s death or any of the cases in this series can call the Serious Crime Review team confidential tip line at 649-2930.
He also appealed for eyewitnesses who might have been in the vicinity at the time of the shooting.
“If you were there, it does not matter whether you think you’ve seen anything or not, you might be able to just help us with this puzzle,” Dean said, adding that even if a witness thinks they have nothing to say, at least the police may be able to tick that individual off their list.
There are a lot of potential eyewitnesses but the police don’t know who they are or “what they’ve seen… if they’ve seen anything at all”, he added.
Justice must be served
Dean pointed out that in a lot of cases like this one, the victim had been “enmeshed in the local crime scene” and Connor did appear to have “allegiances at various times to various groups”.
Though Connor had a criminal record, that did not mean he and his family didn’t deserve justice, Dean said.
“He had a right to life, the same as anybody, and it’s important that we do try and get some closure and justice for Anthony Connor, because although he may not have had the best of upbringings, he does have a family still, he does have siblings, and it’s important that we do try to get to the bottom of this particular matter,” he said.
Connor’s associations were mostly of a criminal nature, but he was a young man who deserved a chance, Dean added.
“I say this on so many occasions. He’d definitely been going down the wrong road but that again doesn’t mean to say he couldn’t change… it would appear his upbringing and his family life was quite fractured. Like a lot of these young men… maybe [he] didn’t have the right influences at the right time to put him in the correct direction in life,” Dean said.
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