Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

Andem

Reputed gang leader, 44-year-old Joel Andem, will not be tried for the murder of 48-year-old gas-station operator Sylvia Edwards.

Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn, QC, decided not to prosecute the case against Andem because of insufficient evidence. A nolle prosequi was entered when Andem appeared before Justice Kay Beckford in the Home Circuit Court yesterday.

Acting Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Dirk Harrison told the court that the two Crown witnesses, Shem Rowe and Alfred George Scott, who had referred to someone called 'Joel' in their statements, had been shot and killed.

Difficulty proving the case

Harrison said the Crown would have difficulty proving the case against Andem because the Crown could not prove that the Joel referred to in the statements was the accused Joel Andem. He also pointed out that Scott had given his name to the police as Oneil Green, so credibility would also be an issue and the Crown would be challenged to place reliance on that statement.

Andem, who was represented by attorney-at-law Carolyn Reid-Cameron, was taken back to prison, where he is serving sentences for gun offences.

The two men who were charged jointly with Andem were remanded yesterday to return to the Home Circuit Court on April 25.

They are 46-year-old businessman Rupert Wallace, of Garvey-meade, St Catherine, and 26-year-old labourer Rohan Masters, of Luke Lane, Kingston. Wallace was denied bail yesterday while a bail application will be made for Masters when he returns to court.

The court was told that assistance was being sought from the United States Embassy to locate retired Detective Inspector Leroy Sparkes, who was a vital witness in the case. Sparkes is living in New York.

Edwards was kidnapped along Red Hills Road, St Andrew, in July 2000. When a ransom demand of $200,000 was not met, she was shot dead and buried in a shallow grave in Constitution Hill, St Andrew.

barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com