As the Cayman Compass Cold Case series enters its second season, Detective Sergeant Peter Dean, head of the RCIPS Serious Crime Review team, said leads are coming in on the unsolved murders, but more input from the public is needed to crack the cases.
Dean, speaking with the Compass ahead of the start of the new series, said he is grateful for the community’s response on the cases highlighted last year when the Cold Cases Files was launched.
“There has been numerous occasions where members of the public have come forward. They have given information in various guises through written communication, telephone, or even speaking to us in person,” the detective sergeant said.
All of that information, he said, is being examined and reviewed.
“[O]ver the coming months, [because] it’s a slow process, we will hopefully go through the finite detail and possibly be able to move some of these cases forward. The one good thing from my perspective is we believe all of the information that’s been forthcoming has been given with good intent by the public,” he said.
In the new season, the team takes a closer look at the Christmas Day killing of father-of-two Darrington Ebanks.
A total of eight cases were profiled in the first season of the series, launched last April.
Each episode, exclusively streamed by the Compass, explores the cold case circumstances of the crime and includes the impact of the loss of loved ones from the perspectives of family and friends.
Among the cases featured: 20-year-old David Ebanks, whose life was cut short at the hands of killers on the evening of 23 Jan. 2015; father-of-one Justin Manderson, who was gunned down on 1 Oct. 2016; and Kerran ‘Kerry-Ann’ Baker’s disappearance and suspected murder on 30 July 2011.
Dean said each case being looked at by the Serious Crime Review team is checked from the start of the initial investigation to the point where the trail runs cold.
He said, at the end of the day, getting justice for the families in mourning and the community at large lies with those who know the truth behind what happened to the victims.
“We do need help with all of these cases and we must engage with the public… without their help, then the case is so much harder to bring to a successful conclusion,” he said.
Oftentimes, to crack a case, it needs that one piece of information, a missing link, to connect the dots. Dean believes this can be found within the community.
“If you have any information, no matter how small, whether you think it is incredibly important or not … if you think you’ve got any information whatsoever, please contact us and speak to us; let us know and we’ll be the people who can decide whether it fits into any particular jigsaw or not,” he said.
Dean said the door is also open to those who may have committed these crimes to come forward and unburden themselves.
Anyone with information on any of the cases featured in this series can contact the Serious Crime Review team on 649-2930
“People might think, ‘Well, that’s a ridiculous thing’, but actually it’s not. We do believe that on several of these murders… people who may know what happened, people who may have some involvement, people who may be the murderers, are struggling somewhat with the things that have happened,” he said, adding that when appeals for help are issued they are aimed at anybody who has the potential to give information.
“So that says as a significant witness, as a normal witness, as a person who was involved or as the murderer. We’re always willing to speak to whoever it is,” he said.
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