Crime
Premier decries graveyard vandalism; Police now investigating grave robberies
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, May 23, 2023 – After multiple grisly discoveries of desecrated graves in Providenciales the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force say they are now investigating the disturbances. It comes days after Premier Washington Misick expressed his intense displeasure with the actions.
“I’d like to express my outrage and disgust that in this country today even the dead are not sacred. I can guarantee
the people of this country that every effort will be made to investigate.”
In a short update on Friday the RTCIPF indicated they were aware of the incidents and the Environmental Health Department had made a report to them.
The report follows two separate incidents over two weeks where perpetrators went to great lengths to break open graves in the Five Cays Cemetery, shattering thick concrete slabs to snatch at the bodies which are resting inside.
On May 11th reports emerged of a grave that had been fully dug up and the coffin broken into and left in the sweltering sun for authorities to find. It took four men, only two in protective gear to replace the coffin. Then again on Mother’s Day, May 14th more reports and evidence of other disturbances were reported.
Unconfirmed reports of bodily mutilation were shared by residents on scene of the first incident as well. Residents expressed distress and disgust at the bizarre and invasive behavior.
The government has promised security will be increased with lights placed around the cemeteries and police say their investigation continues.
Garfield Ekon
Staff Writer
USA, September 21, 2024 – Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been charged with serious sex offenses from a 14-page indictment, accusing him of racketeering, sex trafficking by force and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Mr. Combs, 54, was arrested on Monday evening, with allegations of running a criminal enterprise from at least 2008 that relied on drugs and violence to force women to “fulfill his sexual desires”, according to prosecutors. A New York federal judge remanded the musician in custody on Tuesday after prosecutors argued he was a “serious flight risk”.
If convicted on all three counts, the rapper and record producer faces a sentence of 15 years up to life in prison. Asked by US Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky how he wished to plead, Mr. Combs stood up and said: “not guilty”.
According to court documents, Mr. Combs “wielded the power” of his status to “lure female victims, to engage in extended sex acts” called “Freak Offs”. During Freak Offs, Combs distributed a variety of controlled substances to victims, in part to keep the victims “obedient and compliant,” the indictment said.
In a news briefing, US prosecutor Damian Williams said officials found firearms, ammunition and more than 1,000 bottles of lubricant during raids on Mr. Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles, about six months ago. Mr. Williams said federal agents also found three semi-automatic rifles with defaced serial numbers, and a drum magazine.
He told reporters that further charges were possible, without offering details.
Mr. Agnifilo, the musician’s lawyer, maintained, “there’s no coercion and no crime.”
“He’s not afraid of the charges,” he said, adding that he believed Mr. Combs was the target of “an unjust prosecution”.
In court documents, federal prosecutors said that Mr. Combs had “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct”.
Prosecutors accuse Mr. Combs of “creating a criminal enterprise” whose members – under his direction – engaged in sex trafficking, forced labour, kidnapping, arson and bribery.
“On numerous occasions”, the documents said, Mr. Combs assaulted women by “striking, punching, dragging, throwing objects at, and kicking them”.
The indictment did not specify how many women were alleged victims.
It also does not accuse Mr. Combs himself of engaging directly in unwanted sexual acts with women.
Last November, his ex-girlfriend, singer Casandra Elizabeth Ventura, filed a civil lawsuit against him that included graphic descriptions of violent abuse.
Sean “Diddy” Combs denied the accusations, but settled the case a day after it was filed.
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