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Woman Police Constable Charged For Fareed Ahmad’s Murder
posted (January 2, 2018)
One of the most sensational murders of 2017 happened right at the end of the year - when Fareed Ahmad, the well-known Muslim barber, football referee and community worker from Hattieville was killed.

Well, tonight, Woman Police Constable Michelle Brown is accused of killing him. And, in a shocking reversal, the cop from the Special Assignment Team is in jail tonight, on remand for murder.

And while she has been charged - there's still so much uncertainty about what happened inside Ahmad's SUV last Thursday night. It ended with him being shot in the face and then crashing on the shoulder of the highway, right within his home village of Hattieville.

The cops later retrieved Brown's police issued firearm from the SUV, which they say she shouldn't have had on her, and they found 2 bullet holes in his driver's side window.

His family believed that Brown was somehow responsible for his death, but they gave the investigators room to do their job. That wait culminated today with the 24 year-old police officer being arraigned for the charge of murder.

Our news team was at Magistrate's Court today, and we found police very zealous about security. Daniel Ortiz has that story:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
This morning, Police Constable Michelle Brown had to be carried from the holding cell to the Chief Magistrate's Court room. It was clear that the injuries she suffered in the car crash last Thursday were still affecting her.

All around the court house, officers from the Special Patrol Unit set up a sort of security zone. They restricted vehicle access, but for the most part, they left the press and other civilians to move about freely.

Whatever commotion they were expecting at court, due to their colleague's arraignment, did not happen.

Although we did see the head of the Ahmad family waiting across the street from the court room, most likely looking for a glimpse of the woman police have charged for his son's murder.

We also saw this man who court sources say is Officer Brown's father. He went into the the Chief Magistrate's court room, and sat there in anticipation of the court proceedings, well before they started.

As for Brown herself, she was arraigned by Chief Magistrate Sharon Frazer on a single count of murder. The proceedings were brief. She was told that bail was not an option, and that she would be remanded until March 9.

At today's bi-weekly police press conference, the head of the Professional Standards Branch shared a bit about the parallel investigations that have led to Brown being charged criminally and internally.

ACP Chester Williams - OC, Professional Standards Branch
"The postmortem examination was conducted on Friday and the doctor certified that he died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head as a result of road traffic accident as well as a consequence of gunshot wounds to the face. We have since arrested and charged WPC Michelle Brown for the crime of murder in respect of Fareed's death and she was also charge administratively for neglect of duty in that she failed to hand over her issued firearm before reporting off duty, as well as for act of prejudice to good order and discipline in that by unlawful harm she caused the death of Fareed Ahmad. She will be arraigned on those administrative charges as soon as I leave from here this morning and she has been arraigned in respect of the murder charge at the magistrate court."

Those who were present right after the car crash in Hattieville told us that Fareed Ahmad was conscious when he was removed from the vehicle. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell them how the crash happened, and who shot him. That's reportedly because the gunshot injuries he suffered left him unable to speak.

ACP Chester Williams
"He was taken out of the vehicle after the impact and he was walking around yes, and the doctor is was saying that one of the reason why he could not have said anything was because the gunshot injuries damaged something in the throat that would have allowed him to speak. The people on the scene were saying that he tried to speak but his words were not coming out and so the doctor explained that is was because of the injuries to the throat that prevented him from bringing out his words."

It also does not help the police investigations that Constable Michelle Brown is exercising her right to remain silent as an accused.

ACP Chester Williams
"People out there is saying that we must get the WPC to talk and my thing to them is the constitution protects you from the right of self-incrimination and the commissioner's rule clearly outlined the procedures by which statements are to be recorded from suspected persons, which she is one and she have exercise her constitutional right to remain silent and in the absence of her saying anything there is nothing we can do to compel her to speak on that matter. We wish she would, so we could get her side of the story, but she chose to remain silent."

So, the cops are taking different routes in their investigations. They are awaiting ballistics tests to give a clearer picture of whether the police issued firearm played a role in Ahmad's killing.

ACP Chester Williams
"The officer who issued her with her firearm on that day in question submitted his report and stated that she was issued with the 9mm pistol and 15 live rounds of ammunition. Her firearm was found with 13 live rounds and the two expended shells were found in the vehicle. We are presuming and hoping that it will be confirmed by ballistic that the two expended shells make up for the two that is missing from her firearm."

They are also looking to see if there is any connection between report Ahmad made against Brown's Unit, the Special Assignment Team, and his murder.

ACP Chester Williams
"We know that Fareed had made a report to police hours before he died, and that was also a subject of our investigation, to be able to see if there is any nexus between that report and his death. And so far, our investigation has not revealed that there is any nexus between the two. We also looked at whether or not Fareed and the W knew each other, and that is still up in the air. We have not been able to confirm or deny whether or not they knew each other. Our investigation to ascertain that issue will continue. And we are hoping that we will be able to obtain Mr. Fareed's phone, which is in the possession of the family members, that we go through it, in their presence, to see if we will find anything that could assist us in ascertaining a motive as whether or not they were acquaintances in anyway."

"There are certain things that we need to do, one of which will be to apply to the court, through the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for the phone records of both individuals, the W, as well as that of Fareed. I believe their phone records will be critical in ascertaining a motive as well as to tell us why she was in that vehicle."

Hours after Ahmad and Brown were found injured inside Ahmad's wrecked vehicle, the speculation was furious about what could possibly have happened. Today, Assistant Police Commissioner Williams pointed out that theories are not evidence which can help their case in court.

ACP Chester Williams
"I know for a fact that there are several theories out there, but I want to remind the Belizean public that we cannot take theories to court without evidence. People have a lot to say, but as a department, it is our duty to investigation, we can only go where the evidence is taking us. I am satisfied that we have sufficient [evidence] to have charged her for the murder. It is not the end of the investigation."

Brown is remanded until March 9, when she will be taken back before Chief Magistrate Sharon Frazer for an adjournment.

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